COPYRIGHT     1914     BY    DR.     W  .    0.     HENRY 


A-.;>-i  -■:    '-■----  . 


r 


EQUITANIA 


OR 


THE  LAND  OF  EQUITY 


BY 

dr.w.  o.  henry 

OMAHA 


♦     + 
* 


This  Book  is 

AfFECTIONATKLY  DliDUAriCD 

To  My  Father, 
DR.  SAMUEL  HEXRY, 

AND  ALL  OTHER  LOVERS  OF  RIGHT 

EOUSNESS  AND  SEEKERS 

AFTER  TRl'TH. 


4- 


KLOPP  a   BARTLETT  CO    .  PRINTING, 
OMAHA. 


PREFACE 


For  years  it  has  seemed  to  me  that  each  person  should  do  the  things  that  he  beheves 
will  be  the  very  best  for  the  human  race.  So  that  each  should  put  in  writing,  or  some 
imperishable  form,  his  best  thoughts  out  of  an  honest  heart  according  to  his  ability 
and  experience  for  the  help  of  those  who  follow.  If  he  can  live  it  out  in  every  day 
practical  life,  so  much  the  better  and  the  more  impressive  and  helpful  are  the  truths 
thus  taught  by  precept  and  example. 

If  therefore  one  sets  down  in  order  the  truth  upon  any  subject,  as  he  sees  it,  even 
though  it  may  not  be  the  ultimate  truth,  yet  it  may  be  a  stepping-stone  for  his  successor, 
who,  following  this  light  until  he  sees  a  brighter  and  better,  may  arise  to  a  higher  view- 
point and  nearer  the  truth,  until  at  last  someone  following  in  these  steps  will  arrive  at 
the  desired  goal,  which  he  might  not  have  reached  except  for  these  aids  along  the  way. 
He  is  the  inspired  man  who  sees  ultimate  truth  at  first  hand  without  having  been  aided 
thus  by  his  fellowmen;  so  that  the  most  truth  is  left  for  mankind  to  build  into  a  sublime 
structure  in  this  manner,  by  each  doing  his  part  and  carrying  the  investigation  along  as 
far  as  he  can,  and  ihen  leaving  the  record  in  som.e  tangible  form  to  be  handed  down  to 
others.  Even  as  Socrates  taught  his  disciples  and  Confucius  taught  his  followers,  and 
Jesus  gave  ultimate  truth  to  his,  which  teachings  were  recorded  in  the  writings  of  men 
who  followed  them,  and  m  the  lives  of  men  who  tried  to  put  their  teachings  into  practice. 

No  mere  man  has  ever  possessed  all  truth,  or  had  all  knowledge,  and  therefore  no 
man  has,  or  could  have  imparted  all  truth,  or  knowledge  to  his  fellows,  nor  has  any  man 
ever  been  responsible  for  the  transmission  of  all  knowledge  and  truth  to  mankind;  but 
the  race  is  so  constituted  and  organized  that  the  design  plainly  is  for  men  in  society  to 
co-operate  in  the  search  for  truth  and  in  the  systematizing  of  knowledge  when  acquired, 
for  the  mutual  benefit  of  all. 

Therefore  it  is  each  one's  privilege,  and,  I  think,  a  duty,  to  acquire  as  much  knowl- 
edge from  study,  observation  and  experience,  as  is  consistent  with  his  ability,  vocation 
and  opportunity,  and  thus  out  of  an  honest  heart  and  upright  purpose  give  it  to  his 
fellow-men  in  whatever  way  he  can  best  do  it,  and  thus  add  his  mite  to  the  welfare  of 
the  race,  and  this  it  is  which  makes  human  progress. 

If  it  be  true,  as  I  believe,  that  all  truth  emanates  from  a  common  center,  then 
we  may  be  sure  that  there  is  and  can  be,  no  conflict  in  truth;  and  we  may  have  there- 
fore a  sure  and  positive  test  by  which  to  estimate  the  truth  or  falsity  of  any  theory, 
scheme,  or  teaching;  if  we  can  once  arrive  at  one  certain  and  infallible  truth,  then  what- 
ever harmonizes  with,  fits,  or  dovetails  perfectly  into  that  truth,  must  also  be  true,  and 
whatever  does  not,  must  be  false.  Scientific  truth,  whether  medical,  political,  socio- 
logical, astronomical,  geographical,  chemical,  botanical,  or  other,  cannot  be  in  conflict 
with  moral,  religious  and  theological;  and  when  there  appears  to  be  conflict,  discord  or 
disagreement,  it  is  only  because  at  some  one  or  more  of  the  points  in  question  we  have 
not  yet  arrived  at  the  truth,  and  hence  it  becomes  us  as  rational  beings  to  be  conser- 
vative and  weigh  more  carefully  the  evidence  before  us,  where  there  is  apparent  differ- 
ence, and  aga'in  and  yet  again  go  over  the  apparent  facts  or  evidence  and  search  further 
for  the  truth  until  it  is  found,  rather  than  dogmatize  too  strenuously  upon  insufficient, 
uncertain  and  inadequate  proofs.     Perhaps  Bacon  was  right  when  he  said,  "No  pleasure 

(3) 


PREFACE 

is  comparable  to  standing  on  the  vantage  ground  of  truth."  And  we  may  be  well 
assured  that  "Truth  is  mighty  and  will  prevail,"  even  though  it  seems  at  times  to  be 
suppressed  and  error  to  be  triumphant,  so  that  we  who  advocate  the  truth  may  in 
patience,  "possess  our  souls."  and  await  the  issue  in  perfect  confidence,  without  fear. 
And  doubtless  the  same  comfort  may  be  given  to  all  well-wishers  of  humanity  who  are 
sincerely  seeking  for,  teaching  and  living  the  truth  as  far  as  they  can;  hence  it  was  that 
Peter  could  say  by  experience,  observation  and  inspiration,  "I  perceive  that  in  every 
nation,  he  that  feareth  God  and  worketh  righteousness  is  accepted  with  Him." 

After  more  than  thirty  years  in  the  active  practice  of  medicine;  after  filling  for 
many  years  the  chair  of  Gynecology  in  the  largest  medical  college  of  Nebraska,  and 
filling  the  same  position  on  the  staff  of  the  two  largest  hospitals  in  the  state;  after  having 
been  closely  identified  with  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  work  in  city,  state  and  nation;  after  a  long, 
intimate  and  active  connection  with  church,  Sunday-school,  philanthropic  and  other 
humanitarian  organizations;  after  a  trip  to  the  Orient  to  see  and  study  the  conditions 
of  those  people;  after  two  trips  to  the  great  hospital,  medical  and  industrial  centers  of 
Europe  to  learn  something  of  the  social,  industrial,  health,  economic,  political,  educa- 
tional, moral  and  religious  conditions  there,  and  with  such  opportunities  as  I  have 
enjoyed,  having  tried  to  study  man  as  a  rational,  intelligent,  responsible  being  with 
almost  infinite  possibilities  of  growth  and  development,  I  have  endeavored  in  this  work 
to  give  my  conclusions  and  the  reasons  therefor  as  to  the  ideal  environment  and  gov- 
ernment in  which  man  might  have  the  best  opportunities  in  his  process  of  evolution 
toward  physical,  mental,  moral  and  religious  perfection. 

Let  this  suffice,  then,  as  a  suitable  introduction  to  and  excuse  for  "Equitania,  The 
Land  of  Equity,"  wherein  are  set  forth  thoughts  upon  many  subjects,  which  have  been  of 
interest  and  importance  to  the  race  since  its  beginning,  and  which  will  deserve  and 
command  the  best  thought  of  its  teachers  to  the  end  of  time. 

I  have  given  a  supposed  conversation,  beginning  between  two  old  friends,  Horace 
Manly  and  Sylvester  Dryden,  in  which  they  discuss  this  imiginary  land  and  people.  As 
the  discussion  proceeds  others  are  introduced,  who  prolong  and  enlarge  the  field  of 
observation  and  inquiry,  until  a  wide  range  of  subjects  is  covered. 

Sincerely, 

DR.  W.  0.  HENRY. 


CHARACTERS 

1.  Horace,  a  young  and  wealthy  business  man  who  has  traveled  widely. 

2.  Sylvester,  a  shrewd  traveling  salesman. 

3.  Robert,  manager  of  a  large  mercantile  house. 

4.  Rev.  Jones,  pastor  of  a  leading  church. 

5.  Professor  Johnson,   superintendent  of  the  public   schools. 

6.  Dr.  Brown,  a  prominent  physician  of  the  city. 

7.  Lawyer  Smart,   a   well-known   corporation   attorney. 

8.  Mr.  Lamed,  editor  of  the  leading  daily  paper  in  the  city. 

Los  Angeles  the  home  of  all. 

(4) 


CHAPTER  I. 


THE  ISLAND,  THE  PEOPLE,  AND  THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  THEIR 
VARIOUS  RELIGIONS. 

Sylvester — Why!    hello,   Horace,   how   are  you? 

Horace — I  am  fine;  how  are  you,  old  man,  said  Horace,  as  the  two  men  met  in 
the  lobby  of  the  hotel  in  Los  Angeles. 

Sylvester — Where  have  you  been;  I  haven't  seen  you  for  a  long  time  and  we 
used  to  meet  so  often? 

Horace — Well,  I  must  tell  you  a  strange  story.  After  I  saw  you  here  two  years 
ago,  I  decided  to  take  a  trip  across  the  water  and  see  Japan  and  China,  so  took  a 
steamer  for  the  voyage,  but  a  few  days  before  we  were  due  in  Tokio,  we  were  ship- 
wrecked off  an  island  and  while  our  lives  were  all  saved,  we  lost  everything  on  board 
the  ship,  and  had  it  not  been  for  the  kindly  treatm.ent.of  the  natives  we  would  have 
been  in  sore  straits.  However,  they  took  us  in  and  treated  us  royally  so  that  we  were 
more  than  repaid  for  our  loss,  and  I  have  been  there  ever  since,  and  am  now  in  the 
United  States  again  to  interest  my  friends  in  going  out  there. 

Sylvester — What!  You  do  not  mean  that  you  are  going  out  to  this  strange  land 
to  live.     You  surely  are  not  going  to  take  your  friends  to  this  wild  country! 

Horace — Yes,  that  is  precisely  what  I  mean,  for  it  is  the  most  interesting,  most 
attractive  land  I  have  ever  visited,  and  the  possibilities  are  greater,  and  the  chances 
for  comfort  and  real  happiness  are  more  fascinating  and  hopeful  than  any  place  I  have 
ever  seen.  In  fact,  the  very  name  itself,  is  expressive  of  what  it  is  for  they  call  it 
"Equitania,"  or  "The  Land  of  Equity,"  and  what  I  have  seen  of  the  people,  their 
customs,  their  laws,  and  their  habits,  as  well  as  the  climate  and  the  land,  convinces  me 
that  there  is  the  one  spot  on  earth  I  really  want  to  live. 

Sylvester — I  am  greatly  surprised  and  interested,  for  I  know  you  have  seen 
enough  of  the  world  in  all  its  phases,  and  have  enjoyed  enough  of  travel,  and  your 
long  and  successful  business  career  have  made  you  a  pretty  careful  observer  and  you 
would  not  rashly  take  up  such  a  notion  unless  it  has  merit.  So  I  wish  you  would  tell  me 
about  it. 

Horace — Very  well,  I  shall  be  only  too  glad  to  give  you  an  account  of  it.  Now 
that  dinner  is  over,  let  us  go  up  to  my  room  and  we  can  talk  it  over  more  quietly. 
Besides,  I  have  some  maps  and  figures,  together  with  some  printed  matter  you  will  enjoy 
seeing,  too.  You  must  know  first  about  the  people,  who  they  are,  where  they  came  from, 
and  how  they  came  to  settle  upon  this  choice  island,  for  it  is  a  rare  story. 

In  1857  a  thousand  natives  of  the  best  families  of  India  gathered  their  all 
together  and  sailed  out  of  Bombay  in  the  ship  "Freedom,"  to  find  a  home  and  plant  a 
government  to  their  own  liking  afar  from  their  native  land  and  free  from  all  other 
domination  and  influence,  where  they  might  develop  a  nation  according  to  their 
own  ideals  and  practice  their  own  religious  and  moral  principles  without  let  or  hindrance. 
They  were  intelligent,  well-to-do  people  with  noble  aspirations  for  independence,  and 
were  heartily  loyal  to  Buddhism.  They  believed  in  themselves,  their  ideals  and  in  the 
future  possibilities  of  a  people  thus  produced.  Being  intelligent  and  firm  adherents  of 
Buddhism  they  had  in  mind  the  following  well  defined  conceptions,  for  which  they  were 
determined  to  live  and  die: 

"A  Buddhist,  meaning  a  perfectly  enlightened  one,  who  by  perfect  knowledge  of  the 
truth  IS  liberated  from  all  existence,  who  before  his  own  attainment  of  Nirvana  or 
'extmction'  reveals  to  the  world  the  method  of  attaining  it.  That  is,  a  Buddhist  is  one 
who  explains  the  doctrines  of  Buddhism  and  follows  its  tenets. 

"Buddhism  believes  first;  existence  is  suffering;  2nd,  the  cause  of  pain  is  desire; 
3rd,  cessation  of  pain  is  possible  through  separation  of  desire;  4th,  the  way  to  this  is 
the  knowledge  and  observing  of  the  'good  law'  of  Buddhism.  The  end  is  Nirvana  and 
cessation  of  existence." 

(5) 


U  K(^riTAMA,   ()l{   THK    LAND   OF   KQUITY 

"The  good  man  is  characterized  by  seven  qualities.  He  should  not  be  loaded 
with  faults,  should  be  free  from  laziness,  should  not  boast  of  his  knowledge,  should  be 
truthful,  and  benevolent,  and  content,  and  should  aspire  to  all  that  is  useful.  A  husband 
should  honor  his  wife,  never  insult  her,  never  displease  her,  make  her  mistress  of  the 
house,  and  provide  for  her.  On  her  part  a  wife  ought  to  be  cheerful  toward  him  when 
he  works,  entertain  his  friends,  care  for  his  dependents,  never  do  anything  he  does  not 
wish,  take  good  care  of  the  wealth  he  has  accumulated,  and  not  be  idle,  but  always 
cheerful  when  at  her  work  herself.  Parents  are  to  help  their  children  by  preventmg  them 
from  doing  sinful  acts,  by  guiJmg  them  in  the  paths  of  virtue,  by  educatmg  them,  by 
providing  them  with  husbands  and  wives  suitable  to  them,  and  by  leaving  them  legacies. 
Parents  in  old  age  expect  their  children  to  take  care  of  them,  to  do  all  their  work  and 
business,  to  maintain  the  household,  and  after  death  to  do  honor  to  their  remains,  by 
being  charitable." 

"The  Four  Noble  Truths  as  taught  by  our  merciful  and  omniscient  Lord  Buddha, 
point  out  the  path  that  leads  to  Nirvana  or  to  the  desirable  extinction  of  self. 

"The  First  Noble  Truth  is  suffering;  it  arises  from  birth,  old  age.  illness,  sorrow, 
death,  separation  from  what  is  loved,  association  with  what  is  hateful,  and  in  short, 
the  very  idea  of  self  in  spirit  and  matter  that  constitute  Dharma. 

"The  Second  Noble  Truth  is  the  cause  of  suffering  which  results  from  ignorance, 
creating  lusts  for  objects  of  perishable  nature.  If  the  lust  be  for  sensual  objects,  belong- 
ing to  the  mind  but  still  possessing  a  form  in  the  mind,  it  is  called  Bhava  Tanha.  If  the 
lust  be  purely  for  supersensual  objects  that  belong  to  the  mind  but  are  devoid  of  all 
form  whatever,  it  is  called  Wibhava  Tanha. 

"The  Third  Noble  Truth  is  the  extinction  of  sufferings,  which  is  brought  about 
by  the  cessation  of  the  three  kinds  of  lust,  together  with  their  accompanying  evils, 
which  all  result  directly  from  ignorance. 

"The  Fourth  Noble  Truth  is  by  the  means  of  paths  that  lead  to  the  cessation  of 
lusts  and  other  evils.  This  noble  truth  is  divided  into  the  following  eight  paths;  right 
understanding;  right  resolutions;  right  speech;  right  acts;  right  way  of  earning  a 
livelihood;    right  efforts;    right  meditation;    right  state  of  mind. 

"Temperance  is  enjoined  upon  all  Buddhists  for  the  reason  that  the  habit  of  using 
intoxicating  things  tends  to  lower  the  mind  to  the  level  of  that  of  an  idiot,  a  madman 
or  an  evil  spirit." 

"Siddartha  Guatama  or  Sakya-Muni,  the  founder  of  Buddhism,  was  born  a  few 
days  journey  north  of  Benares,  and  was  son  of  the  King  of  Kapilavastu,  B.  C.  450. 
Filled  with  deep  compassion  for  humanity  he  retired  into  solitude  to  study  the  mysteries 
of  life,  and  finding  as  he  believed,  the  true  way  of  happiness  was  by  Nirvana  or  extinc- 
tion, or  non-existence,  he  became  the  Buddha  and  so  preached  and  taught. 

"Buddhism — way  to  Nirvana  or  non-Existence.  To  obtain  it,  eight  things  must 
be  done : 

1 .  Right    views.  4.  Right    purpose.  7.   Right    memory. 

2.  Right   judgment.        5.  Right   profession.  8.  Right   meditation. 

3.  Right    language.        6.  Right    application. 
"Also  five  moral  precepts  must  be  observed: 

1.  Not  to  kill.      3.   Not   to  commit   adultery.     5.  Not   to   get  drunk. 

2.  Not  to  steal.  4.   Not  to  lie. 
"And  six  fundamental  virtues  practiced. 

1.  Charity.  3.   Patience.  .    5.  Contemplation. 

2.  Purity.  4.  Courage.  6.  Knowledge. 
"The  Four  Great  Truths  of  Buddhism  are: 

1 .  Misery  always  accompanies  existence. 

2.  All  modes  of  existence  of  men  or  animals,  in  death  or  heaven,  result  from 
passion    or    desire. 

3.  That  there  is  no  escape  from  existence  except  by  destruction  of  desire. 

4.  This  may  be  accomplished  by  following  the  four-fold  way  to  Nirvana. 

"It  is  said,  'The  first  enemy  which  the  believer  has  to  fight  against  is  sensuality 
and  the  last  is  unkindliness.     Above  everything  is  universal  charity.     True  enlightenment. 


\ 


THE    LAND   AND   ITS  PEOPLE  7 

true  freedom  are  complete  only  in  love.     The  last  great  reward  is  Nirvana,  Eternal  Rest, 
or  Extinction.'  " 

After  sailing  many  days  over  a  rough  and  boisterous  sea,  they  landed  Feb. 
19th,  1858,  upon  the  western  shore  of  a  beautiful  island,  heretofore  undiscovered  and 
without  human  inhabitants,  lying  in  the  Pacific  ocean  in  latitude  34-36  degrees  north 
and  longitude  160-170  degrees  west.  The  natural  harbor  was  commodious,  inviting  and 
attractive.  After  making  some  investigation  for  miles  in  the  interior  and  about  the 
coast  without  evidence  being  found  of  any  human  being  ever  having  been  there,  and 
finding  the  climate  balmy  and  exhilarating,  the  soil  fertile  and  productive;  the  mountains 
majestic;  the  valleys  large;  the  plains  for  grazing  rich;  the  springs,  lakes  and  rivers 
numerous,  clear  and  refreshing;  the  fauna  varied  and  charming;  the  outlook  for 
fuel  and  power  brilliant  and  the  prospect  for  every  temporal  comfort  easy  of  access 
to  the  willing  toiler;  they  determined  to  make  this  their  new  home  and  develop  the 
resources  of  this,  their  newly  discovered  island,  which  they  named  Buddland. 

Strange  to  say,  during  the  same  year,  a  company  of  Christian  men  and  women 
from  the  United  States  had  been  discussing  the  wisdom  of  founding  a  colony  in  some  new 
and  western  land,  where  they  might  have  a  truly  Christian  civilization  and  a  government 
established  upon  their  principles.  Toward  the  close  of  the  year  they  had  gotten  together 
a  group  of  one  thousand  men,  women  and  children,  all  of  whom  were  imbued  with 
these  ideas  and  were  high  class,  intelligent  believers  in,  and  firm  adherents  of,  the 
Christian  religion.  All  of  those  who  were  of  the  age  of  discernment,  each  for  himself 
accepted  Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Savior,  Lord  and  Master,  and  took  the  Bible 
contained  in  the  Scriptures  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  to  be  their  guide,  the  only 
infallible  rule  of  faith  and  practice  as  the  word  of  God  to  them.  They  believed  that 
the  Holy  Spirit,  the  third  person  of  the  Trinity,  was  the  Interpreter  of  the  Holy  Book 
and  that  each  rational  human  being  might  appeal  to  Him  in  prayerful  meditation  for 
light  to  understand  the  book  and  its  applicability  to  him  in  his  relation  to  Jehovah  and 
his  duties  to  his  fellowmen,  with  reasonable  hope  and  expectation  of  being  led  aright, 
if  in  simple  truth  and  sincerity,  he  thus  sought  the  way.  They  believed  in  the  practical 
application  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  that  each  for  himself  must  give  account  to 
God.  They  believed  in  the  Golden  Rule  as  taught  by  Jesus,  "Whatsoever  ye  v/ould 
that  men  should  do  unto  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

They  believed  in  a  personal,  self-existent  Supreme  Being,  whom  they  called 
Jehovah,  the  Author  of  the  Universe,  by  whose  power  they  were  created,  and  by  whom 
all  things  consist.  They  believed  that  man  was  originally  made  in  His  image  of  right- 
eousness and  true  holiness,  and  by  the  fall  of  Adam  and  Eve  in  Eden,  that  image  was 
defaced,  and  could  only  be  restored  through  faith  in  the  Second  Adam,  Jesus  Christ 
the  only  begotten  son  of  God,  full  of  Grace  and  Truth. 

They  believed  that  each  human  being  was  responsible  and  personally  accountable 
to  Jehovah,  for  the  Scriptures  say,  "So  then  every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  him- 
self to  God."  They  were  all  believers  in  the  Apostles  Creed,  which  says,  "I  believe  in 
God,  the  Father  Almighty,  Creator  of  Heaven  and  Earth,  and  in  Jesus  Christ,  His  only 
Son,  our  Lord,  who  was  conceived  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  suffered 
under  Pontius  Pilate,  was  crucified,  dead  and  buried,  he  descended  into  hell;  the  third 
day  he  arose  again  from  the  dead;  he  ascended  into  heaven  and  sitleth  at  the  right 
hand  of  God,  the  Father  Almighty;  from  thence  he  shall  come  to  judge  the  living  and 
the  dead.  I  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost;  the  Holy  Catholic  Church;  the  communion  of 
saints;   the  forgiveness  of  sins;   the  resurrection  of  the  body,  and  life  everlasting." 

"They  were  all  believers  in  the  practical  application  of  the  teaching  of  Jesus  to  the 
daily  affairs  of  life,  and  that  Christianity  rightly  understood  had  to  do  with  the  bodies  as 
well  as  the  souls  of  men,  and  Jesus'  message  to  John,  who  while  in  prison,  sent  two 
disciples  to  inquire  of  Him,  "Art  thou  He  that  should  come,  or  look  we  for  another?" 
When  he  said,  "Go  and  shew  John,  what  things  ye  do  see  and  hear;  the  blind  receive 
their  sight,  the  deaf  hear,  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  the  dead  are  raised 
up,  and  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached  unto  them;"  was  not  only  a  proof  of  His 
Messiahship,  a  demonstration  of  His  infinite  love  and  compassion,  but  a  wise  declaration 
that  the  religion  which  He  taught  and  wished  His  followers  to  teach  and  practice,  was 


8  IK^riTAMA,   OK   TIIH    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

to  care  for  the  whole  man,  his  temporal  and  physical  needs  as  well  as  his  spiritual 
necessities. 

They  were  all  believers  in,  and  accepted  as  final,  Jesus'  interpretation  of  the  fen 
Commandments,  when  he  said;  "Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God,  with  all  thy  heart 
and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  mind;  this  is  the  first  and  great  commandment 
and  the  second  is  like  unto  it  namely.  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself;  on  these 
two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." 

They  believed  the  first  four  of  the  following  ten  commandments,  had  to  do  with 
and  pertained  to,  man's  relations  to  God,  or  were  his  religion,  and  the  last  sixf  contained 
the  moral   law,  or  man's  duties   to  his   fellowmen.      Love  Supreme   to   God  being   the 
basis  of  the  first,  and  love  to  man  the  basis  of  the  second: 
L  "Thou  shalt  have  no  other  Gods  before  me. 

2.  "Thou  shalt  not  make  unto  thee  any  graven  image,  or  any  likeness  of 
anything  that  is  in  heaven  above,  or  that  is  in  the  earth  beneath,  or  that  is  in  the 
water  under  the  earth.  Thou  shall  not  bow  down  thyself  unto  them,  nor  serve 
them:  For  I  the  Lord  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generation  of  them  that  hate  me;  and 
shewing  mercy  unto  thousands,  of  them  that  love  me,  and  keep  my  commandments. 

3.  "Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord  thy  God  in  vain;  for  the  Lord 
will  not  hold  him  guiltless  that  taketh  his  name  in  vain. 

4.  "Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  keep  it  holy.  Six  days  shalt  thou  labor 
and  do  all  thy  work.  But  the  seventh  day  is  the  Sabbath  of  the  Lord  Thy  God; 
in  it  thou  shalt  not  do  any  work,  thou,  nor  thy  son,  nor  thy  daughter,  thy  man- 
servant nor  thy  maid-servant,  nor  thy  cattle,  nor  the  stranger  that  is  within  thy 
gates.  For  in  six  days  the  Lord  made  heaven  and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  in 
them  is,  and  rested  the  seventh  day;  wherefore  the  Lord  blessed  the  Sabbath  day 
and  hallowed  it. 

5.  "Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother,  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the 
land  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth  thee. 

6.  "Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

7.  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

8.  "Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

9.  "Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor. 

10.  "Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy 
neighbor's  wife,  nor  his  man-servant,  nor  his  maid-servant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass, 
nor  anything  that  is  thy  neighbor's." 

Having  gotten  their  earthly  possessions  together  they  sailed  from  the  western  coast 
in  the  ship  "Liberty"  for  a  new  home  where  they  might  found  a  colony  to  propagate 
their  own  kind  and  develop  a  land  for  their  posterity  untrammeled  by  other  peoples  and 
beliefs  inimical  to  their  welfare.  After  many  days  of  hardship  they  landed  Feb.  19th, 
1858,  on  this  beautiful  and  fertile  island,  whose  very  center  proved  to  be  latitude  35 
degrees  north  and  longitude  1 65  degrees  west  in  the  midst  of  the  Pacific  ocean,  which 
they  named  "Christland." 

Singular  enough  in  the  year  1857  a  large  company  of  the  more  enlightened  Turks 
completed  a  plan  which  had  been  taking  shape  lor  some  years,  to  abandon  their  native 
land,  go  to  some  new  country,  if  possible  away  from  all  civilized  people,  and  establish  a 
Mohammedan  settlement  upon  the  most  modern  basis,  and  be  free,  if  possible,  from  all 
entangling  alliances.  They  sailed  in  the  fortunate  ship  "Chance."  They,  too,  had  a 
band  of  one  thousand  people,  all  of  whom  were  faithful  adherents  of  Islam,  and  accepted 
the  Koran  as  their  chief  guide  in  religion  and  morals. 
They  believed: 

1st.  There  is  one  God  without  beginning  or  end,   sole  Creator   and  Lord  of 
the  universe,  having  absolute  power,  knowledge,  glory,  and  perfection. 
2nd.  His  angels  are  impeccable  beings  created  of  light. 

3rd.  There  are  good  and  evil  genii,  created  of  smokeless  fire  and  subject  to 
death. 

4th.  The  Holy  Scriptures  are  his  uncreated  word  revealed  to  the  prophets  of 


\ 

THE   LAND  AND  ITS  PEOPLE  9 

those  now  in  existence,  but  in  a  corrupted  form,  the  Pentateuch,  Psalms  and 
Gospels;  but  in  an  uncorrupted  and  incorruptible  form  the  Koran,  which  supersedes 
all  previous  revelations. 

5th.  The  most  distinguished  prophets  and  apostles  are  Adam,  Noah,  Abraham, 
Moses,  Jesus,  and  Mohammed  the  greatest  and  most  distinguished  of  them  all, 
the  most  excellent  of  the  creatures  of  God. 

6th.  A  general  resurrection  and  final  judgment  with  rewards  and  punishments. 
7th.  God's    absolute    fore-knowledge    and   predestination    of    all    events,    both 
good   and   evil. 

8th.  Abstinence  from  all  intoxicating  liquors. 

9th.  Circumcision  according  to  the  Mosaic  code,  and  the  observance  of 
clean  and  unclean  meats,  accordmg  to  the  Mosaic  law. 

"Its  pillars  of  practice  are  physical  and  mental  cleanliness,  prayer,  fasting,  frater- 
nity, alms-giving  and  pilgrimage.  It  will  make  a  man  sober  and  honest,  and  truthful, 
and  will  make  him  love  his  God  with  all  his  heart,  and  with  all  his  mind,  and  his  neighbor 
as  himself.  Prostitution  and  marital  infidelity,  with  scandalous  newspaper  reports  of 
divorce  proceedings  are  quite  impossible  to  a  Musselman  community^  where  European 
influences  have  no  foot-hold." 

After  touching  at  many  ports,  they,  too,  landed  Feb.  19th,  1858,  upon  this  island 
in  the  Pacific  ocean  which  seemed  to  be  uninhabited.  Finding  the  island  so  attractive 
and  inviting  they  proceeded  to  investigate  fully  before  building  their  city,  and  the  more 
they  explored  and  searched,  the  more  delighted  were  they  with  the  prospect,  and  called 
it   "Islamand." 

It  seems  that  many  Jews  in  England  had  long  thought  it  would  be  desirable  to  have 
a  country  of  their  own  where  they  might  develop  and  grow  according  to  their  own 
ideas  and  so  1,000  of  them  had  come  together  and  planned  to  join  their  possessions  and 
cast  in  their  lots  together  and  endeavor  to  found  a  home  for  their  own  people.  Late  in 
the  year  1857  they  sailed  away  in  the  ship  "Opportunity."  They  were  the  intelligent 
and  broad-minded  Jews  who  were  firmly  attached  to  Judaism,  and  not  only  believed 
its  teachings  but  practiced  them  as  well. 

They  accepted  the  "Old  Testament  Scriptures,"  that  is,  the  writings  of  Moses  and 
the   prophets    as    the   Word   of   Jehovah. 

They  believed: 

1 .  Man  was  created  by  Jehovah,  and  Adam  and  Eve  were  placed  in  the 
Garden  of  Eden  free  from  sin  but  with  the  power  of  choice. 

2.  Adam  and  Eve  fell  into  sin  by  choosing  disobedience  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  evil  one  called  Satan  or  the  Devil. 

3.  The  world  was  destroyed  by  a  flood  because  of  its  wickedness  and  only 
eight  persons  were  saved  alive  by  special  provision,  and  that  a  renewed  covenant 
was  made  with  Noah. 

4.  That  Abraham  was  called  for  a  special  purpose  as  their  Ancestor. 

5.  The  Ten  Commandments  were  given  to  them  through  Moses  and*covered 
man's  relations  to  Jehovah  and  to  his  fellowmen. 

6.  In  short  this  book  to  be  an  infallible  guide  both  in  religion  and  morals  to 
them,  they  were  a  people  specially  chosen  by  God  as  the  descendants  of  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob. 

After  some  months,  of  searching  and  testing  different  islands,  they  landed  Feb. 
19th,  1858,  upon  what  seemed  to  them  as  they  had  sailed  about  it,  a  most  charming 
island  in  mid-ocean.  They  began  explorations  into  the  interior  and  became  daily  more 
infatuated  with  their  discovery  and  decided  to  find  the  most  suitable  harbor  in  the 
island  to  build  their  city  and  establish  themselves  in  this,  their  new  land  or  country, 
which  they  called  "Jewland." 

A  strange  coincidence  was  that  all  of  these  four  communities  while  landing  in 
different  parts  of  the  island  the  very  same  day,  decided  upon  the  same  plan  of  action, 
and  so  while  the  great  body  of  the  people  stayed  by  their  respective  camps,  chosen 
leaders  from  each  company  were  sent  out  to  locate  the  best  place  to  build  their  city. 
Of  course  they  chose  respectively   leading  men   upon  whose  intelligence,   wisdom   and 


1(1  KIH'ITAMA.    OK   Till-:    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

judgment  they  could  rely  for  this  very  important  mission,  and  each  chanced  to  send 
forth  ten  men  to  select  the  most  desirable  site,  and  they  would  naturally  choose  one 
accessible  to  the  sea  and  if  possible  with  a  fine  harbor. 

These  several  delegations  set  out  on  their  mission  of  inspection  and  explored  the 
coast,  ascending  the  rivers  that  emptied  into  the  sea  and  passed  to  the  interior  at  many 
points  until  finally  one  parly  reached  a  large  and  excellent  harbor  in  the  center  of  the 
southern  coast  into  which  a  large  river  discharged  its  abundant  waters.  They  ascended 
this  beautiful  stream  and  found  its  banks  and  adjoining  territory  most  inviting.  They 
encamped  for  the  night  on  the  bank  of  the  river  near  its  mouth  and  expected  next 
morning  to  locate  their  city  and  send  for  their  entire  company.  After  a  night  of 
peaceful  rest  and  refreshing  sleep,  what  was  their  surprise  to  see  a  small  boat  come  to 
land  in  their  immediate  vicinity,  and  its  ten  occupants  hail  them  in  a  foreign  tongue; 
but  both  parties  being  educated  men  they  soon  came  to  understand  each  other  and 
related  their  experiences  with  interest  and  enthusiasm;  but  hardly  had  they  gotten 
well  acquainted  when  another  boat  with  ten  men  aboard  came  into  view  and  essayed 
to  land  in  the  same  vicinity  and  were  explaining  their  condition  and  conclusions  when 
ten  more  men  came  upon  the  scene  from  the  interior,  for  they  had  landed  late  the 
night  before  near  by  and  were  out  for  exploration,  when  they  came  suddenly  and  very 
unexpectedly  upon  this  group  or  this  combination  of  three  groups.  At  first  there  was 
a  feeling  of  resentment  and  chagrin  upon  the  part  of  all  as  they  began  to  see  their 
hopes  and  bright  prospects  of  founding  a  colony  only  for  themselves,  flit  away,  for 
each  group  had  come  to  look  upon  the  island  as  its  own  by  right  of  first  discovery  and 
they  regarded  the  others  as  intruders.  Then,  too,  each  group  had  seen  enough  of  the 
island  and  its  wonderful  resources  and  possibilities  to  make  it  fairly  enchanted  with 
it  and  covet  it  for  their  own  dear  people  whom  of  course  each  group  exalted  far  above  all 
other  competitors. 

But  as  they  talked  matters  over  among  themselves  they  finally  agreed  that  all 
having  discovered  and  landed  upon  this  new  country  the  same  day  and  hour,  they  by 
right  were  equal  owners  of  it,  and  therefore  the  following  were  the  only  possible  ways 
of  settling  the  question  what  should  be  done  with  it  and  how  should  they  now  further 
proceed : 

I  St.  They  might  fight  for  it  and  let  the  strongest,  or  the  victor  in  the  contest, 

have  it,  while  the  others  should  pass  on,  or  become  their  servants. 

2nd.  They  might  cast  lots  for  it  and  let  the  winner  have  the  prize. 

3rd.  They  might  let  the  highest  bidder  have  it. 

4th.  They  might  divide  it  equitably  among  the  four  parties  and  let  each  be 

independent  of  the  other. 

5th.  They  might  join  hands  and  develop  it  together,  upon  a  fair  and  equitable 

basis  for  all. 

6th.  They  might  abandon  it  and  look   for  a  new  home. 

7th.  They  might  one  or  all,  lay  claim  to  it  for  the  "respective  countries  from 

whjch    they   came." 

Having  decided  among  themselves  that  these  seven  were  the  only  possible  ansv/ers 
to  the  question,  they  appointed  one  man  from  each  group  to  give  the  best  possible 
argument  for  each  plan,  after  hearing  which,  they  would  jointly  decide. 

When  the  various  speakers  had  duly  prepared  themselves  they  all  came  together 
as  a  deliberative  body  to  hear  the  arguments  and  decide  upon  which  course  to  pursue. 
This  being  a  vital  question  not  only  to  their  respective  companies  in  the  immediate 
present,  but  to  their  posterity  for  all  time  to  come,  it  was  deemed  wise  to  give  it  delib- 
erate and  full  discussion  and  if  possible,  decide  upon  a  course  which  they  could  unani- 
mously recommend  to  their  respective  companies  for  final  action;  since  they  had  all 
expected  to  found  a  real  democracy,  therefore  no  action  would  be  acceptable  or 
binding  until  the  separate  communities  had  agreed  to  it. 

After  listening  to  the  arguments  and  having  the  various  questions  answered  as  they 
were  put  by  the  different  members  they  finally  rejected  by  unanimous  vote  the  first 
proposition   for  the   following  reasons: 

I .  Might  never  makes  right  and  mere  physical  force  can  never  equitably  settle 
any  question. 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  11 

2.  It  is  a  barbarous  way  of  settling  disputes  and  differences  and  more  civilized, 
enlightened  ways  should  be  chosen. 

3.  Any  question  settled  unjustly  and  in  manifest  wrong,  merely  because  one 
has  the  physical  or  brute  force  to  do  so,  is  never  at  resi,  nor  is  it  finally  so  settled, 
but  always  leaves  some  bad  effects  to  show  themeseives  later  in  the  posterity  of 
the   unfair    temporary   victor. 

They  rejected  the  second  proposition  for  the  reason  that  whilst  equally  fair  to  all, 
it  would  unnecessarily  be  giving  up  something  of  untold  value  which  might  better  be 
settled   in   another   way. 

They  rejected  unanimously  the  third  because  no  one  of  the  four  had  sufficient 
funds  to  pay  the  others  any  adequate  compensation  for  their  equity  and  just  share  in 
it,  and  because  they  could  see  a  better  way  out. 

In  spite  of  the  many  strong  and  forceful  arguments  in  favor  of  the  fourth  propo- 
sition, they  unanimously  rejected  it,  because  they  saw  that  in  future  years  there  must 
needs  be  conflicts  and  misunderstandings  in  a  territory  so  compact,  circumscribed  and 
rich  if  controlled  by  four  different  governments  and  because  they  could  see  in  prospect 
a  better  way. 

They  rejected  the  sixth  because  it  seemed  most  unwise  and  no  good  reason  could 
be  given  for  so  doing. 

They  rejected  the  seventh  because  that  would  defeat  the  very  object  for  which 
they  started  out,  namely,  to  found  an  independent  country  in  a  new  land  away  from  all 
entangling  alliances,  and  now  to  appeal  to  their  respective  countries  and  put  themselves 
under  any  one  or  all  of  them  would  thwart  their  object,  and  they  therefore  adopted  the 
fifth  proposition  unanimously  upon  the  following  basis,  and  for  the  reasons  herewith 
given : 

First — As  intelligent  human  beings  they  all  wanted  the  same  things,  namely: 
1st.  Opportunity  for  the  pursuit  of  happiness. 

2nd.  Protection  for  their  persons,  their  dependents  and  their  possessions. 
3rd.  Security  in  all  their  natural  rights. 

Second — While  they  differed  in  their  religions,  they  agreed  perfectly  about  their 
civH  needs  and  they  realized  that  religion  means  binding  the  individual  soul  back  to 
its  source  or  to  the  Supreme  Authority  in  the  universe.  Or,  that  rehgion  is  the  bridge 
or  belief  or  faith  which  connects  the  individual  soul  to  its  divine  source,  or  to  its  Maker; 
hence  there  are  many  religions  in  the  world,  all  designed  to  bndse  or  span  the  chasm, 
between  God  and  man.  As  this  bridge,  belief,  or  faith  is  good,  bad,  or  indifferent,  so 
must  be  the  system  of  religion  which  is  built  upon  it;  and  yet  they  are  all  based  upon 
these   three  predicates: 

1 .  What    man    ought    to    believe    about    God. 

2.  What,  if  any,   relationship  man  bears  to  God. 

3.  What  man  ought  to  do  to  please  or  be  in  harmony  with  God. 
Therefore   they   said   religion   is   a   personal,   an   individual   matter   with   which    no 

state  ought  to  interfere,  if  it  could,  and  with  which  no  state  could  interfere  even  if  it 
would.  The  state  has  to  do  with  civil  affairs  and  not  with  religious  matters,  for  every 
individual  man  must  answer  to  God  alone  for  his  religious  beliefs  and  practices,  while 
the  state  deals  with  the  social  and  civic  relations  of  men.  For  man  looketh  on  and 
can  judge,  as  well  as  in  a  measure  control,  the  outward  or  material  relations  of  men, 
while  God  only  looketh  on,  judgeth  and  ruleth  the  hearts,  the  spirits,  the  internal  rela- 
tions of  men.  Hence  it  follows  that  men  may  be  associated  in  civil,  tem.poral  or  material 
affairs,  and  be  widely  apart  in  religious,  eternal  and  spiritual  m.atters.  If  men  are 
broad-minded  enough  to  stand  together  in  those  civil  affairs  wherein  they  can  agree,  to 
gain  their  common,  temporal  necessities,  and  at  the  same  time  allow  perfect  liberty  in 
religion  there  may  be  great  mutual  benefit  and  harmony.  One  may  under  such  circum- 
stances be  a  good  citizen,  a  good  neighbor,  a  good  husband  and  father,  a  good  officer 
without  being  an  adherent  to  any  of  the  recognized  systems  of  religion. 

1 .  A  great  historian  has  wisely  said,  "The  first  and  most  general  truth  in  history 
is  that  men  cr^ht  to  be  free.  If  happiness  is  the  end  of  the  human  race,  then  freedom 
is   its   condition. 

2.  One   of   the   greatest   enemies   of   freedom,   and   therefore   of   the   progress    and 


r_'  EQUITAXIA,   OR   TlIK    LAND   OF  EQUITY 

happiness  of  our  race,  is  over-organization.  Among  all  the  civil,  political  and  churchly 
institutions  of  the  world  it  would  be  difficult  today,  to  select  that  one  which  is  not 
in  a  large  measure  conducted  in  the  interest  of  the  official  management.  The  organiza- 
tion has  become  the  principal  thing,  and  the  man  only  a  secondary  consideration.  All 
this  must  presently  be  reversed.  Organization  is  not  the  principal  thing.  The  man 
himself  is  better.  The  institution,  the  party,  the  creed,  the  government  that  does  not 
serve  him;  does  not  conduce  to  his  interests,  progress  and  enlightenment;  is  not  only 
a  piece  of  superfluous  rubbish  on  the  stage  of  modern  civilization,  but  is  a  real  stumbling 
block  and  positive  clog  and  detriment  to  the  welfare  and  best  hopes  of  mankind. 

"What  men  want,  what  they  need,  what  thy  hunger  for,  what  they  will  one  day 
have  the  courage  to  demand  and  take,  is  less  organic  government — not  more;  a  freer 
manhood  and  fewer  shackles;  a  more  cordial  liberty;  a  lighter  fetter  of  form,  and  a  more 
spontaneous   virtue. 

3.  "Of  all  things  that  are  incidentally  needed  to  usher  in  a  permanent  democracy 
and  brotherhood  of  man  (the  coming  new  ear  of  enlightenment  and  business)  one  of 
the  most  essential  is  toleration.  1  he  prescriptive  vice  of  the  middle  ages  have  flowed 
down  with  the  blood  of  the  race  and  tainted  the  new  life  that  now  is  with  a  suspicion  and 
distrust  of  freedom.  Liberty  in  the  minds  of  men  has  meant  the  privilege  of  agreeing 
with  the  majority.  Essentially  freedom  is  the  right  to  differ,  and  the  right  must  be 
sacredly  respected.  The  right  of  free  thought,  free  inquiry,  and  free  speech  to  all  men 
everywhere  is  as  clear  as  the  noonday  and  bounteous  as  the  air  and  the  sea. 

4.  "The  development  of  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  is  in  all  free  governments 
a  sine  qua  non  of  their  strength  and  perpetuity.  Without  it,  such  governments  fall 
easy  victims  to  ignorant  military  captains  and  civil  demagogues  of  high  or  low  repute." 

If  people  of  different  religious  beliefs  are  to  live  together  in  peace,  these  distinctions 
should  be  borne  in  mind  and  the  laws,  rules  and  regulations  made  to  govern  them  in 
their  daily  relations  and  in  these  temporal  affairs  should  be  made  from  the  standpoint 
of  their  agreement  and  of  their  mutual  needs,  but  should  not  infringe  upon  their  rights 
in  religion.  In  other  words,  there  are  basic  principles  upon  which  their  needs  as  rational, 
intelligent  and  responsible  beings  are  founded,  and  these  should  be  observed  in  the 
interests  of  truth,  justice  and  the  enlightenment  and  progress  of  the  race. 

THESE  PRINCIPLES  ARE 

1.  The  right  of  every  individual  after  reaching  the  years  of  discretion,  to  choose 
or  reject  any  religion  or  form  of  worship  he  desires.  Each  man  is  personally  account- 
able to  God  alone  for  his  religious  obligations,  both  in  belief  and  practice. 

2.  The  right  of  any  individual  to  live  in  any  part  of  the  world  he  may  choose 
provided  only  he  discharges  the  debt  of  obligation  he  may  owe  to  the  land  of  his  birth, 
and  is  admitted  to,  and  obeys  the  laws  of  the  country  of  his  choice. 

3.  Every  man  has  a  right  to  teach  whatever  he  desires  upon  any  and  all  subjects, 
social,  scientific,  political,  philosophical,  and  religious,  subject  only  to  the  restrictions 
of  the  government  under  which  he  lives,  or  to  which  he  comes,  concerning  teaching  of 
the  young;  for  it  is  by  this  process  of  discussion,  agitation,  inquiry  and  controversy, 
one  man  advancing  new  and  progressive  ideas,  others  defending  the  old  ideas  until 
they  have  been  clearly  and  conclusively  shown  to  be  outdone  by  the  new  and  better 
ones,  that  we  make  real  advances,  and  the  truth  when  once  found  in  its  ultimate  essence 
upon  any  subject  cannot  be  improved  upon,  added  unto  nor  successfully  controverted, 
but  stands  firm  and  unshaken,  the  Everlasting  Rock. 

Progress  is  made  by  the  discovery  or  application  of  truth,  in  new  fields  or  for 
new  uses;  and  therefore  unless  the  human  mind  is  free  and  at  liberty  to  study,  inquire 
and  investigate  in  all  fields  of  thought,  no  growth,  progress  or  advancement  can  be 
made.  And  further,  the  dread  or  fear  upon  the  part  of  some,  that  old  landmarks,  old 
truths,  political,  scientific,  and  religious  may  thus  be  ignored,  outdone  or  overthrown 
are  entirely  groundless  for  truth  cannot  be  forever  overthrown  but  is  eternal  and  indes- 
tructible,  as   the  poet  has  wisely  said: 

"Truth  crushed  to  earth  will  rise  again. 
The  Eternal  years  of  God  are  hers; 
But  error  wounded  writhes  in  pain. 
And  dies  among  his  worshippers." 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  13 

They  recalled  that  Sir  Thomas  Moore,  the  courageous,  wise,  judicious,  humane  and 
learned,  as  well  as  an  experienced  English  statesman  who  was  Lord  Chancellor  under 
Henry  VIII,  and  who  suffered  martyrdom  because  he  would  not,  like  the  other  church- 
men and  prelates  of  England,  stultify  himself  and  falsify  his  religion  to  please  the  King, 
says  in  his  Utopia,  that  ideal  state  which  he  portrays: 

"There  are  divers  kinds  of  religion  not  only  in  sundry  parts  of  the  Island, 
but  also  in  divers  places  of  every  city.  Some  worship  for  God;  the  sun;  some,  the 
moon;  some,  some  other  of  the  planets. 

"But  after  they  heard  us  speak  of  the  name  of  Christ,  of  his  doctrine,  laws, 
miracles,    and   of   the   no    less   wonderful    constancy   of   so    many    martyrs,   whose 
blood  willingly  shed  brought  a  great  number  of  nations   throughout   all  parts  of 
the  world  into  their  sect;   you  will  not  believe  with  how  glad  minds,  they  agreed 
unto  the  same;   whether  it  were  by  the  secret  inspiration  of  God,  or  else  for  that 
they  thought  it  next  unto  that  opinion,  which  among  them  is  counted  the  chiefest, 
"They  also  which  do  not  agree  to  Christ's  religion,  fear  no  man  from  it,  nor 
speak  against  any  man  that  hath  received  it.     Saving  that  one  of  our  company 
in  my  presence  was  sharply  punished.     He  as  soon  as  he  was  baptized  began  against 
our  wills,  with  more  earnest  affection  than  wisdom,  to  reason  of  Christ's  religion; 
and  began  to  wax  so  hot  in  this  matter,  that  he  did  not  only  prefer  our  religion 
before  all  other,  but  did  also  utterly  despise  and  condemn  all  other,  calling  them 
profane,  and  the  followers  of  them  wicked  and  devilish  and  the  children  of  ever- 
lasting damnation.     When  he  had  thus  long  reasoned  the  matter,  they  laid  hold  on 
him,  accused  him  and  condemned  him  unto  exile,  not  as  a  despiser  of  religion,  but 
as  a  seditious  person  and  a  raiser  up  of  dissension  among  the  people.     For  this  is 
one  of  the  ancientest  laws  among  them;  that  no  man  shall  be  blamed  for  reasoning 
in  the  maintenance  of  his  own  religion.     For  King  Utopus,  even  at  first  beginning, 
hearing    that    the    inhabitants    of    the    land    were,    before    his    coming    thither,    at 
continual   dissension   and   strife   among   themselves   for   their   religions;    perceiving 
also  that  this  common  dissension   (whilst  every  several  sect  took  several  parts  in 
fightmg  for  their  country)   was  the  only  occasion  of  his  conquest  over  them  all; 
as  soon  as  he  had  gotten  the  victory,  first  of  all  he  made  a  decree,  that  it  should 
be  lawful  for  every  man  to  favor  and  follow  what  religion  he  would,  and  that  he 
might   do   the   best   he   could   to   bring   others    to   his   opinion,   so    that   he   did   it 
peaceably,  gently,  quietly,  end  soberly,  without  haste  and  contentious  rebuking  and 
inveighing  against  each  other.     If  he  could  by  fair  and  gentle  speech  induce  them 
unto  his  opinion  yet  he  shonld  use  no  kind  of  violence,  and  refrain  from  displeasant 
and  seditious  words.     To  him  that  would  vehemently  and  fervently  in   this  cause 
strive   and   contend  was   decreed   banishment   and   bondage.      This    law   did   King 
Utopus    make    not    only    for    the    maintenance    of    peace,    which    he    saw    through 
continual  contention  and  mortal  hatred  utterly  extinguished;    but  also  because  he 
thought    this   decree   should   make    for    the   furtherance   of   religion.      Whereof   he 
durst  define  and  determine  nothing  unadvisedly,  as  doubting  whether  God  desired 
manifold  and  divers  sorts  of  honor,  would  inspire  sundry  men  with  sundry  kinds 
of  religion.     And  this  surely  he  thought  a  very  unmeet  and  foolish  thing,  and  a 
point  of  arrogant  presumption,   to  compel  all   other  by  violence  and  threatenings 
to  agree  to  the  same  that  thou  believest  to  be  true.     Furthermore   though   there 
be  one  religion  which  alone  is  true,  and  all  other  vain  and  superstitious,  yet  did 
he  well  foresee  (so  that  the  matter  were  handled  with  reason  and  sober  modesty) 
that  the  truth  of  its  own  power  would  at  the  last  issue  out  and  come  to  light. 
But  if  contention   and  debate  in   that  behalf  should  continually  be  used,   as  the 
worst  men  be  most  obstinate  and  stubborn  and  in  their  evil  opinion  most  constant; 
he  perceived  that  then  the  best  and  holiest  religion  would  be  trodden  under  foot 
and  destroyed  by  most  vain  superstitions,  even  as  good  corn  is  by  thorns  and  weeds 
overgrown  and  choked.     Therefore  all   this   matter  he   left  undiscussed  and  gave 
to  every  man  free  liberty  and  choice  to  believe  what  he  would.     Saving  that  he 
earnestly  and  straightway  charged  them,  that  no  man  should  conceive  so  vile  and 
base  an  opinion  of  the  dignity  of  man's  nature,  as  to  think  that  the  souls  do  die  and 
perish  with  the  body;  or  that  the  world  runneth  at  all  adventures  governed  by  no 


14  EQinTAXlA.   Oil  TIIK    LAND   OF   P^QUfTY 

divine  providence.  And  therefore  they  believe  that  after  this  life  vices  be  extremely 
punished  and  virtues  bountifully  rewarded.  Him  that  is  of  a  contrary  opinion  they 
count  not  in  the  number  of  men,  as  one  that  hath  abased  the  high  nature  of  his 
soul  to  the  vileness  of  brute  beast's  bodies,  much  less  in  the  number  of  their  citizens, 
whose  laws  and  ordinances,  if  it  were  not  for  fear,  he  would  nothing  at  all  esteem. 
For  you  may  be  sure  that  he  will  study  either  with  craft  privily  to  mock,  or  else 
violently  to  break  the  common  laws  of  his  country,  in  whom  remaineth  no  further 
fear  than  of  the  laws,  nor  no  further  hope  than  of  the  body.  Wherefore  he  that 
is  thus  minded  is  deprived  of  all  honors,  excluded  from  all  offices,  and  rejected 
from  all  common  administrations  in  the  weal  public.  And  thus  he  is  of  all  sort 
despised,  as  of  an  unprofitable  and  of  a  base  and  evil  nature.  Howbeit  they  put  him 
to  no  punishment,  because  they  be  persuaded  that  it  is  in  no  man's  power  to 
believe  what  he  list." 

Third — They  wanted  a  common  standard  of  public  morals,  and  whilst  morality 
is  a  natural  outgrowth  of  religion,  and  is  determined  more  or  less  by  the  particular  kind 
of  religion  practiced  by  a  people,  yet  it  is  true  that  there  would  be  necessarily  a  kind 
of  morality  among  men  who  do  not  pretend  to  any  form  of  religion,  and  also  while 
people  living  undeiT  the  same  government  where  different  systems  of  religion  are  believed 
and  practiced,  there  would  be  unwillingness  to  adopt  in  full  the  moral  system  of  any  one 
of  the  religions,  yet  a  moral  system  as  a  public  standard  might  be  formulated,  taking  those 
fundamental  things  in  which  they  all  agree,  and  upon  which  there  would  be  no  dispute, 
hence  they  found  a  common  ground  upon  which  they  could  stand,  and  determmed  to 
adopt  that  common  standard  as  their  ideal  for  public  morality,  and  leave  the  finer 
points  upon  which  their  respective  religions  made  them  differ,  to  be  taught  in  the  homes 
and  in  their  respective  places  of  worship,  along  with  their  various  religions. 

Fourth — They  all  wanted  a  democratic  form  of  government  which  as  they 
believed  would  give  them  the  largest  possible  liberties  with  proper  safeguards  for 
peace,  happiness  and  perpetuity.  It  would  give  them  the  best  thmgs  for  themselves  and 
their  posterity  and  would  allow  them  to  pursue  the  wisest  and  best  course  in  dealing 
with  other  nations. 
They  said: 

The  efficiency  of  any  government  may  be  fairly  gauged  by  the  morality,  intelligence, 
justice,  prosperity,  sincerity,  liberty  and  happiness  of  its  people;  because  the  very 
object  of  government  is  to  promote  these  ends;  therefore,  the  more  perfectly  they  are 
attained,  the  more  nearly  ideal  is  the  government. 

The  right  of  any  intelligent  being  to  govern  one  or  more  other  intelligent  beings 
must  rest  upon  absolute  justice  and  can  come  about  or  may  prevail  only  upon  one  of  the 
following  conditions: 

1.  By  creation,  as  Jehovah  rightly  and  justly  rules  over  all  other  created 
intelligences,  and  has  absolute  right  to  make  the  rules,  laws  and  regulations  for 
them  because  He  is  their  Creator  and  He  alone  sustains  them  in  being.  Man  as  one 
of  his  created  beings  is  rightly  amenable  to  His  laws  and  should  give  cheerful  and 
loyal  obedience  to  the  Divine  Will. 

2.  By  direct  commission   from  Jehovah,  as  a  father  over  his  child. 

3.  By  consent  of  the  governed,  as  in  a  Republic  or  Democracy  voluntarily 
formed  by   the  people. 

4.  By  right  of  conquest  over  those  who  have  forfeited  their  rights  to  self- 
government  by  infringing  upon  the  natural  rights  of  others. 

No  other  conceivable  grounds  have  ever  existed  or  can  ever  exist  which  will 
give  one  or  more  persons,  just  and  equitable  right  to  govern  others.  No  such 
thing  as  mere  bigness,  force,  ability,  or  even  majorities,  can  ever  rightly  govern 
any  person  or  any  number  of  persons.  No  such  thing  as  precedent,  as  custom,  as 
good  intent,  or  even  well  meaning  can  justify  any  man  or  any  men  assuming 
authority  where  one  or  more  of  the  preceding  grounds  are  nor  present  and  dominant. 
But  more,  the  right  to  continue  a  government  once  begun,  or  to  exercise  authority 
once  rightly  obtained,  depends  rapon  a  fair,  just  and  equitable  administration  of 
the  powers  belonging  to,  or  conferred  upon  the  recojnized  authority.  As  no  man 
•has  perfect  knowledge,  infallible  judgment,  infinite  power  or  love,  so  no  man  can 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  15 

be  an  absolutely  safe  or  perfect  guide  to  other  men  in  all  truth,  and  therefore  need 

not  be  implicitely  followed  or  obeyed,   neither   is   the  will   of   any  man   the  final 

authority  in  the  realm  of  truth.     But  if  no  man  is  perfect,  neither  yet  is  a  plan, 

system   or   government   of   any   number   of   men   perfect,   for   it   is    formulated   by 

imperfect  beings,  and  no  matter  how  great  the  number  of  imperfect  beings  which 

are  added  together,  their  skill  and  wisdom  will   never  make  a  perfect  thing,  but 

it  must  ever  remain  imperfect,  like  its  maker.     And  yet,  if  men  have   a  perfect 

standard  toward  which  they  are  all  striving  as  an  ideal,  they  will  work   together 

more  successfully  and  reach  a  higher  stage  of  excellence  than  if  they  all  have  the 

same    lower    standard.      And    further,    if    they   have    many    standards,    varying    in 

excellence  and  worth,  some  high,   some  low,   some  indifferent,  it  will   make   their 

efforts  more  difficult  and  far  less  effective.     To  illustrate,  if  we  have  a  thousand 

voters  in  a  city  and  we  have  five  different  standards  of  right,  live  different  ideals 

of  what  the  city  should  do  in  business  and  morals,  each  having  two  hundred  strong 

adherents,  do  you  not  see  how  utterly  impossible  it  would  be  to  make  any  advance 

or   effective  plans?     Absolutely   nothing   could  be   accomplished   so   long   as   each 

division  insisted  upon  having  its  own  way.     A  compromise  might  be  at  last  effected 

with  which  none  would  be  perfectly  satisfied.     So  that  in  any  form  of  society,  large 

or  sm.all,  as  well  as  in  the  formation  of  a  city  government,  if  all  of  its  members 

could  have  the  same  high  ideals,  the  same  worthy  objects  to  be  accomplished,  the 

same  exalted  standard  of  excellence  in  morals,  business  and  civilization,  it  would 

greatly  simplify  and  expedite  its   formation  and  development.     This  is  why  those 

who  believe  the  Bible  to  be  the  infallible  Word  of  God,   and  sincerely   strive   to 

follow  Its  teachings,  should  agree  in  the  main  upon  a  plan  of  society  and  government. 

Having  faith  in  the  same  infallible  standard  there  ought  to  be  a  general  agreement 

upon   the  fundamental   things  in   faith   and  practice.     And  it   is   only  because  sin 

has  entered  into  the  world  stirring  up  pride,   envy,  bigotry,  hate   and  selfishness, 

that  such  oneness  of  purpose  does  not  prevail  among  men.     And  it  is  because  of 

every  man's  fallibility,  and  yet  every  man's  privilege,  as  well  as  his  duty,  to  worship 

God   according   to   the   dictates   of   his   own   conscience,   and  because   of   his   own 

individual  accountability  to  God,  that  absolute  freedom  in   religion  is  granted  by 

the  Almighty  himself,   and  ought   to  be   given   by   every  civil   government   amon<^ 

men.     II  Samuel  23:1-3.  ° 

And   they   agreed   with    that   very   wise    and    kindly   man    who    said    "No    man    is 
good  enough  to  govern  another  without   that  other's  consent. 

"The  people  are  the  rightful  masters  of  both  congresses  and  courts,  not  to 
overthrow  the  constitution,  but  to  overthrow  the  men  who  pervert  the  constitution. 

u'^^j^l"^^  's  anything  that  is  the  duty  of  the  whole  people  to  never  intrust  to 
any  hand  but  their  own,  that  thing  is  the  preservation  and  perpetuity  of  their  own 
liberties  and  institutions. 

"Gold  is  good  in  its  place  but  living,  brave  and  patriotic  men  are  better  than 
gold.  Labor  is  superior  to  capital  and  deserves  much  the  higher  consideration. 
Ihe  working  men  are  the  basis  of  all  governments,  for  the  plain  reason  that  they 
are  the  more  numerous. 

"Labor  is  prior  to  and  independent  of  capital.  Capital  has  its  rights  which 
are  as  worthy  of  protection  as  any  other  rights  nor  should  this  lead  to  a  war  upon 
property  Property  is  the  fruit  of  labor.  Property  is  desirable,  is  a  positive  good  in 
the  world.  Let  not  he  who  is  houseless  pull  down  the  house  of  another,  but  let  him 
work  diligently  and  build  one  for  himself,  thus  by  example  assuring  that  his  own 
stiall    be   safe    from    violence   when    built." 

In  other  words,  they  all  wanted  a  democracy  in  which  every  man  should  have 
an  equa  share,  in  which  all  should  be  equal  before  the  law,  in  which  the  rights  of 
all  should  be  equally  sacred  and  faithfully  protected.  They  believed  that  all  men 
were  created  free  and  are  equally  entitled  to  a  fair  opportunity  for  life,  liberty, 
and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  in  any  and  all  ways  not  inconsistent  with  or  infringing 
upon  the  like  rights  of  others. 

5.  They  believed  they  could  better  work  out  the  large  possibilities  in  the 
development  of  this  island,  and  therefore  secure  for  themselves  and  their  posterity 


Hi  EQUITAXIA,   OR  THK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

the  greatest  freedom  and  safety  by  uniting  under  one  government  to  form  a 
democracy  in  which  all  their  rights  would  be  safeguarded  and  their  privileges 
suitably  guaranteed.  Therefore  they  decided  to  formulate  and  adopt  with  the 
approval  of  their  several  companies  a  constitution  in  harmony  with  the  foregoing 
plans  and  agreements.  Having  thus  come  to  a  fair  and  full  understanding  among 
themselves  they  parted  and  each  set  of  leaders  went  to  their  respective  companies 
to  bring  them  without  delay  to  this  chosen  spot  for  mutual  discussion,  interchange 
of  thought  and  expression,  for  final  decision  and  definite  action. 

A  few  days  later  all  were  camped  upon  this  chosen  site  and  they  had  quietly  settled 
down  to  get  acquainted  and  pass  upon  the  questions  of  so  much  importance  to  them  all 
after  thoughtful,  intelligent  and  mature  deliberation.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  due  consideration 
being  given  it  was  agreed  upon  all  hands  that  the  ten  leaders  of  each  band  had  acted 
wisely  and  their  recommendations  were  unanimously  adopted  and  the  Jews  and 
Mohammedans  located  upon  the  east  bank  of  the  river  while  the  Christians  and  Buddhists 
built  upon  the  west  bank,  the  respective  locations  being  chosen  by  lot,  and  thus  the 
city  was  founded  at  the  mouth  of  the  river  upon  both  banks,  and  was  divided  therefore 
into  four  equal  parts  and  one  thousand  persons  in  each.  The  Jews  occupied  the  southeast 
quarter,  the  Mohammedans  the  northeast  quarter,  the  Christians  the  southwest  quarter, 
and  the  Buddhists  the  northewst  quarter. 

Sylvester — That  is  a  wonderful  story,  but  tell  me  now  about  their  government,  and 
how  it  is  managed. 

Horace — I  shall  be  delighted  to  do  so,  but  it  is  late  now,  and  if  agreeable,  you 
may  come  over  tomorrow  night  and  I  will  give  you  an  account  of  that;  but  here  is  a  copy 
of  their  constitution,  which  you  may  read  in  the  meantime. 


CHAPTER  11. 


.  THE  FORM  OF  GOVERNMENT  A  DEMOCRACY,  AND  THE 

CONSTITUTION. 

Horace — Come  in,  said  Horace,  the  next  evening  as  Sylvester  knocked  at  his 
door  in  the  hotel,  I  am  glad  to  see  you  again  and  hope  you  have  read  the  constitution 
and  are  more  interested  than  ever  in  this  ideal   land. 

Sylvester — Yes,  I  have  read  and  have  been  astonished  at  what  I  find  in  this 
fundamental  law  of  Equitania,  but  there  are  some  things  I  can  hardly  realize  about  it, 
and  am  anxious  to  have  you  explain  the  workings  of  this  plan  in  the  every-day  affairs 
of  men,  and  tell  me,  please,  how  they  brought  it  about? 

Horace — That  is  indeed  a  most  interesting  part  of  the  whole  story.  You  see, 
it  having  already  been  determined  to  form  a  Democracy,  and  a  general  agreement  as 
to  the  results  to  be  attained  having  been  reached;  and  a  clear  line  of  distinction  already 
having  been  drawn  between  the  civil  or  material  interests  of  the  people  and  the  religious 
or  immaterial  matters  which  concerned  them,  the  committee  on  constitution  had  its  course 
very  definitely  marked  out  for  it.  Each  community  or  section  of  the  city  chose  the  ten 
leaders  already  mentioned  as  its  representation  on  the  constitutional  committee,  which  was 
instructed  to  draft  a  suitable  constitution  and  submit  for  approval  to  the  entire  body 
of  citizens   in   the   four   districts   of   the   city. 

The  committee  was  thus  composed  of  forty  men  representing  equally  the  interests 
of  all  parts  of  the  city,  and  they  came  together  upon  the  day  appointed  and  organized 
for  work  by  electing  a  chairman  and  secretary;  after  suggesting  various  plans  for  action, 
both  to  expedite  the  business  and  to  secure  the  best  results,  they  adjourned  until  the 
next  day. 

It  appeared  at  the  following  meeting  that  each  company  while  at  sea  had  formulated 
a  general  plan  for  its  government,  and  so  had  pretty  clear  ideas  jotted  down  in  definite 
form  as  to  what  they  wanted  and  what  they  had  expected  before  discovering  this 
beautiful  isle.  Accordingly  these  plans  or  outlines  of  constitution  were  now  brought 
forward,  and  whilst  in  some  points,  especially  on  religious  and  moral  questions,  they 
were  quite  different,  yet  it  was  extremely  interesting  and  instructive  to  see  how  very 
much  alike  they  were  in  so  far  as  they  related  to  the  material  or  civil  welfare  of  the 
people.  Still  it  should  not  seem  strange  nor  need  it  cause  wonder,  for  the  physical  needs, 
the  bodily  necessities,  and  the  material  wants  of  all  men  are  very  much  the  same;  indeed, 
their  mental,  moral,  and  religious  needs  are  more  nearly  alike  than  most  people  realize, 
and  their  desires  for  eternal  peace  can  only  be  met  by  coming  into  harmony  with  the 
great  Author  of  the  Universe  and  source  of  their  being.  After  careful  discussion  of  all 
points,  and  wise  elimination  of  all  unnecessary  verbiage  and  things  of  doubtful  utility 
they  adopted  the  following  preamble  and  constitution,  which  we  might  glance  over 
together. 

PREAMBLE. 

Whereas  the  Supreme  Being  whom  we  worship  and  adore,  "In  whom  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being,"  has  so  graciously  brought  us  to  this  good  land  in  answer 
to  our  various  petitions; 

And  whereas  in  His  Infinite  Wisdom  and  Love  He  has  led  us  in  ways  that  we  know 
not  of,  and  has  shown  us  by  new  proofs  that  "He  has  created  of  one  blood  all  nations 
of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth ; " 

And  whereas  He  has  brought  us  of  so  diverse  faith  and  race  from  the  ends  of  the 
earth  to  meet  one  another  face  to  face  and  unite  in  forming  a  government  of  freedom, 
of  justice,  and  of  opportunity  among  men; 

And  whereas  by  this  special  Providence  He  has   shown  us   the  way  and  granted 

(IV) 


18  EQUITANIA.   OK   TIIK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

us  the  privilege  of  demonstrating  to  the  world  the  possibihty  and  the  benefit,  as  well  as 
the  wisdom  of  dwelling  together  in  mutual  good  fellowship,  helpfulness  and  peace; 

Therefore,  Be  it  resolved  that  we.  the  undersigned,  representing  and  speaking 
on  behalf  of  Jews.  Christians,  Mohammedans  and  Buddhists,  hereby  express  our 
profound  gratitude  to  the  Author  and  Upholder  of  the  human  race  for  His  guidance 
and  leadership,  and  beseech  Him  to  grant  His  good  favor,  blessing  and  help,  to  us  and 
our  successors,  while  we  adopt  and  endeavor  to  carry  out  the  following  constitution : 

ARTICLE  1. 
The  name  of  this  island  shall  be  "Equitania,"  or  "The  Land  of  Equity,"  and  we, 
its  discoverers  and  first  inhabitants,  all  of  whose  names  are  hereunto  attached,  if  they 
have  reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  both  male  and  female,  with  our  descendants 
and  all  whom  we  or  they  accept  as  citizens,  or  subjects,  are,  and  by  right  ought  to  be 
the  owners  and  proprietors  of  it,  and  shall  forever  be  known  as  "Equitanians." 

ARTICLE  II. 
The   form   of   government   shall    forever   be   a   Democracy   in    the   interests   of   the 
inhabitants,  and  no  laws  shall  be  enacted  or  promulgated,  except  for  the  mutual,  civil 
and  material  welfare  of  all,  except  such  as  shall  be  necessary  to  safeguard  the  religious 
liberty  of  all. 

ARTICLE  III. 

The  following  is  and  shall  be  the  accepted  code  of  public  morals  for  the  Equitanians: 

1.  Human  life  is  sacred.     "Thou  shalt  not  kill." 

2.  Property  rights  are  personal.     "Thou  shalt   not  steal." 

3.  Human  character  and  reputation  are  personal,  and  individual  assets,  of 
value.     "Thou  shalt  not  lie." 

4.  Parental  authority,  sanctity  of  the  home  and  proper  training  of  children  are 
essential  to  the  welfare,  prosperity  and  perpetuity  of  the  state.  "Honor  thy  father 
and  thy  mother." 

5.  The  sacredness  and  the  purity  of  the  home,  together  with  chastity  of  the 
individual  is  essential  to  peace  and  equity  among  men.  "Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery    or    fornication." 

6.  All  men  being  created  free,  and  endowed  by  nature  with  certain  equal  and 
inalienable  rights.  Thou  shalt  not  infringe  or  trespass  upon  the  natural  and 
acquired    rights    of    another. 

7.  Selfishness  being  a  great  and  widespread  evil  in  the  world,  producing  much 
distress,  hardship  and  strife,  it  is  desired  to  overcome  it  by  making  love  or  unsel- 
fishness the  ideal  motive  power  among  men.  "Whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should 
do  to  you,  do  ye  even  so  to  them." 

ARTICLE  IV. 

The  home  which  is  sacred  and  inviolable  is  the  unit  of  power  and  safety  in  city 
and   state. 

ARTICLE  V. 

All  Equitanians,  male  and  female,  are  subjects  of  the  government,  by  consent, 
birth   (native  born)   or  by  naturalization  according  to  law. 

ARTICLE  VI. 
All  Equitanian  subjects  are  divided  into  the  following  classes:  Citizens,  which 
includes  only  male  voters;  Counsellors  (mothers);  Associates  (wives);  and  matrons,  all 
other  women  who  have  theoir  independent  living  and  therefore  may  occupy  places 
of  power  and  influence  in  the  community;  Defectives  and  Degenerates,  which  include 
all  who  have  been  duly  shown  to  be  incompetent.  Criminals  and  offenders,  including  all 
who  have  been  duly  convicted  of  crime  or  other  offense. 

ARTICLE  VII. 
Any  person  living  in  Equitania,  and  not  a  subject,  is  a  visitor,  and  is  amenable  to 
the  laws  for  transients  or  visitors. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 
No  person  shall  become  or  remain  a  citizen  of  Equitania  except  males  who  have 
reached  the  age  of  twenty-one  years;   have  an  independent  living;    and  are  free  from 


IDEAL  CONSTITUTION  19 

criminal  or  grossly  immoral  acts,  as  drunkenness,  adultery,  bribery,  etc.,  and  discharge 
with   reasonable  fidelity   their  obligations   to   their   fellowmen. 

ARTICLE  IX. 

All   Equitanians    are    amenable    to    the   call    of   government    for    service    in    every 
emergency  for  the  public  welfare. 

ARTICLE  X. 

No  Equitanian  shall  be  deprived  of  any  natural  or  legal  right,  but  by  due  process 
of  law. 

ARTICLE  XL 
The  English,  Hebrew,  Arabian  and  Indian  languages  shall  be  official  until  the  year 
1883,  after  which  time  the  EngHsh  alone  shall  be  the  official  language  of  Equitania. 

ARTICLE  XII. 
The  liberty  of  the  press  shall  be  granted  and  maintained,  but  defamatory,  slanderous 
and  libelous  writing  shall  not  be  permitted;   nor  will  open  advocacy  of  violation  of  law 
or  destruction  of  the  government,  or  its  constitution  be  allowed. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

All  Equitanians  are  equal  before  the  law,  and  punishments  can  only  be  inflicted 
according    to    law. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

All  civil  and  political  rights  are  wholly  free  from  and  independent  of  religious 
beliefs  and  practices,  but  the  duties  of  Equitanian  subjects  shall  not  be  abridged'  nor 
interfered  with  by  any  religious  services  or  rules. 

ARTICLE  XV. 
Marriage  is  a  civil  contract,  and  in   the  interest  of  the  state  must  be  performed 
according  to  law  and  with  due  regard  to  the  welfare  of  the  state;   but  having  complied 
with   the  law  of  the  state  nothing  herein   shall  prevent   any  religious  sect  making   the 
ceremony  sacred,   according  to   its   tenets   or  beliefs. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 
The  state  shall  provide  for  suitable  education  of  the  youth,  and  shall  confine  itself 
to  teaching  morality  and  the  things  of  this,  our  earthly  life,  making  the  instruction 
practical  and  helpful  in  building  useful  subjects  for  the  Democracv.  Nothing  in  this  act 
shall  prevent  the  various  religions  having  schools  for  the  training  of  their  young  in  their 
particular  beliefs,  provided  only  they  do  not  omit  to  teach  also  the  things  required  by 
the  otate.  =        -i  j 

ARTICLE  XVII. 
The  right  of  petition  shall  not  be   annulled. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 
All  land,  water  power,  and  natural  resources  belong  to  the  government. 

ARTICLE  XIX. 
All  public  utilities  shall  belong  to  and  be  controlled  by  the  government  in  a  manner 
most  conducive   to   the  public  weal. 

ARTICLE  XX. 
The  expenditures  of  the  government  shall  be  met  from  a  fund  provided  as  follows: 
I.  Income  from  lease  of  public  lands,  mines,  forests,  etc. 
I.  Income  from  profits  of  all   public  utilities. 

3.  Proceeds    from    export    customs    and    import    duties. 

4.  By  one  per  cent  inheritance  tax  above  $100,000.00,  and  by  tax  on  yearly 
mcome  of  one  per  cent  for  $3,000.00  and  up  to  $10,000;  two  per  cent  for  annual 
mcome  over  $10,000.00  and  not  more  than  $50,000.00,  and  three  per  cent  on  all 
armual   incomes   over  $50,000.00. 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

Every  Equitanian  may  settle  in  any  part  of  the  Island,  or  move  from  one  part  to 
another,  at  his  or  her  discretion,  provided  only  he  gets  a  certificate  of  discharge  from 


20  EQUITAMA,   Oli  THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

the  proper  officer  in  his  district,  and  a  letter  of  acceptance  from  the  proper  officers  of 
the  district  into  which  he  proposes  to  move.  The  privileges  of  removal,  and  requirements 
to  be  met  shall  be  uniform  in  all  parts  of  the  country,  and  no  severe  or  unusual  test 
shall  be  applied  by   any  section   as   against   another. 

ARTICLE  XXII. 
The  civil  status  of  all  Equitanians  is  under  federal  supervision  and  records  of  all 
shall  be  kept  by  the  proper  authorities  in  each  center  of  population. 

ARTICLE  XXIII. 

All  legislative  power  in  Equitania  shall  be,  and  the  same  is  hereby  vested  in  The 
Assembly,  which  shall  consist  of  a  Senior  and  a  Junior  House  to  be  constituted  as 
follows: 

Sec.  1 .  The  Senior  House  is  composed  of  Seniors  elected  by  the  voters  every 
six  years  from  their  own  number,  one  for  each  District,  who  shall  be  a  man  of 
affairs,  not  less  than  forty-five  years  of  age,  and  who  shall  have  proven  his  abiHty 
and  probity  by  a  successful  and  honorable  career,  and  shall  have  been  a  resident 
in  the  District  which  he  represents  not  less  than  one  year. 

Sec.  2.  The  Junior  House  is  composed  of  Juniors,  three  from  each  District, 
chosen  by  the  voters  every  three  years  from  the  electors  who  have  attained  the 
age  of  thirty  years,  and  who  being  themselves  voters,  have  a  clean  and  worthy 
record.  As  the  Districts  increase  in  population,  a  careful  census  of  which  shall  be 
taken  every  ten  years,  beginning  in  1870,  there  shall  be  added  one  Junior  for  each 
100.000    population. 

Sec.  3.  Each  House  shall  choose  its  own  officers,  be  the  final  judge  upon 
election  of  its  members,  and  shall  keep  its  own  records. 

Sec.  4.  A  majority  of  the  members  shall  constitute  a  quorum  in  each  house, 
and  each  shall  have  power  to  compel  attendance  of  the  members  at  all  sessions. 

Sec.  5.  The  Seniors  and  Juniors  shall  receive  compensation  for  their  services 
out  of  the  general  treasury  as  may  be  determmed  by  them  in  open  joint  session, 
said  compensation  not  to  be  changed  durmg  their  term  of  service. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

Sec.  1 .  The  executive  power  of  this  Democracy  shall  be  vested  in  a  President,  who 
shall  hold  his  office  for  six  years,  and  together  with  a  Vice-President  chosen  for  the 
same  period,  shall  be  elected  as  follows: 

A  primary  election  shall  be  held  in  each  District  upon  the  same  day  at  which 
the  voters  shall  be  given  an  opportunity  to  express  their  preference  for  President 
and  Vice-President.  If  any  person  has  received  a  clear  majority  of  all  the  votes  cast, 
the  same  having  been  certified  by  the  proper  authorities  to  the  Assembly,  then  the 
Assembly  shall  declare  such  persons  duly  elected  as  President  and  Vice-President 
respectively.  If  no  person  has  received  such  majority,  then  the  Assembly  shall 
proceed  to  choose  a  President  from  the  two  candidates  who  received  the  highest 
vote,  and  the  presiding  officer  of  the  Assembly  shall  have  no  vote,  except  in  case 
of  a  lie,  when  his  vote  shall  be  the  deciding  one,'  The  Vice  President  shall  be 
elected   in   the   same  manner. 

Sec.  2.  No  person  shall  be  eligible  to  the  presidency  unless  he  has  attained  the 
age  of  forty-five  years,  is  a  native  born  citizen,  a  successful  man  of  affairs,  able,  upright, 
and  honorable  in  his  dealings  with  his  fellowmen,  as  expressed  in  the  moral  code. 

Sec.  3.  The  President  and  Vice  President  shall  receive  such  compensation  as  the 
Assembly  may  determine. 

Sec.  4.  The  President  shall  before  induction  into  office  make  the  following  declara- 
tion before   the  Assembly  on   the   first   Monday   of  June   following   his   election: 

"In  the  presence  of  this,  the  highest  legislative  body  of  the  Equitanians,  in  the 
presence  of  all  the  witnesses  here  convened  and  before  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the 
universe  to  whom  I  must  one  day  give  account  of  all  deeds  done  in  the  "body,  I 
promise  to  faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  Equitania  to  the  best  of 
my  ability,  in  equity  and  fairness  to  all  the  people,  and  that  I  will  support,  defend 
and  protect   its   constitution." 


IDEAL  CONSTITUTION  21 

Sec.  5.  The  President  shall  appoint  as  his  privy  council  such  heads  of  departments 
as  the  Assembly  may  deem  wise  to  authorize. 

ARTICLE  XXV. 

The  Assembly  may  offer  rewards,  confer  honors,  and  bestow  dignities  upon  any 
Equitanian  for  highly  meritorious  discoveries,  inventions,  or  any  distinguished  services 
or  deeds  on  behalf  of  the-  commonwealth. 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Man  being  an  intelligent,  religious,  moral,  accountable  or  responsible,  and  social 

creature,  must  and  will  develop  or  progress   along   all   these   lines,   and  will   have   the 
following    fourfold   duties. 

Sec.  1 .  Religious  duties,  or  those  pertaining  to  his  relations  and  duties  to 
his  God.  With  these  the  state  need  have  no  concern,  since  religion  is  wholly  a 
personal  matter  between  the  individual  and  his  God.  So  that  in  Equitania  its 
subjects  shall  forever  have  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  to  worship  or  not 
as  they  please.  Save  only  this,  their  religious  beliefs  and  practices  shall  not  be 
allowed  to  interfere  with  their  duties  as  faithful  and  loyal  subjects  of  the  common- 
wealth. 

Sec.  2.  Mora!  duties,  or  those  pertaining  to  man's  relations  to  his  fellowmen 
and  all  lower  animals,  because  of  his  kinship  with  the  former  and  his  God-given 
authority  over  the  latter.  With  these  duties  the  state  need  have  no  further  concern 
than  to  see  that  his  outward  actions  toward  his  fellowmen  and  all  lower  animal 
life  conform  to  the  public  code  of  morals  cited  above  for  the  observance  of  all 
Equitanians,  since  that  is  the  sole  basis  for  all  public,  moral  instructions  and 
legislation    in    this   commonwealth. 

Sec.  3.  Selfish  or  personal  duties  to  himself.  The  duty  of  choosing  and 
working  out  his  own  character  and  destiny.  With  these  the  state  has  nothing  more 
to  do  than  safeguard  him  in  his  rights  and  afford  him  suitable  opportunities  for 
the  development  of  character,  and  for  reaching  his  chosen  destiny,  in  connection 
with  his  duties  as  a  loyal  and  faithful  subject. 

Sec.  4.  Civil  duties,  or  those  he  owes  to  his  government,  or  the  society  of 
which  he  is  a  part.  Man's  social  nature  leads  him  to  the  formation  of  families, 
tribes,  nations,  and  governments,  with  all  their  social,  industrial,  political  and 
economic  questions,  the  supreme  object  of  which  is  to  secure  to  all  its  adherents 
or  subjects  their  natural  rights,  promote  equity,  establish  justice,  insure  domestic 
peace,  safeguard  the  general  welfare,  and  protect  them  from  all  domestic  and 
foreign  foes.  Therefore  all  legislative  enactments  shall  be  formulated,  all  judicial 
decisions  rendered,  and  ail  executive  functions  shall  be  discharged  with  these  ends 
in  view,  and  limited  only  by  the  distinctions  made  in  the  four  sections  of  this 
article. 

ARTICLE  XXVII. 
An  ideal  city,  community,  or  government  might  well  be  one  in  which   all   of  its 

subjects  are  secure  in  their  natural  rights,  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and 

in  which  their  needs  are  adequately  supplied. 

Sec.    1 .  The  right  to  life  is  inherent  and  inalienable,  to  be  used  at  the  subject's  own 

discretion,  so  long  as  he  does  not  trespass  upon  like  rights  of  another,  and  is  not  to  be 

taken  by  any  one,  or  by  government,  unless  forfeited  by  having  taken  that  of  another. 
Sec.  2.  The  right  to  liberty  in  use  of  time,  talents  and  possessions  in  any  manner 

the  subject  may  please  is  inalienable  and  not  to  be  curtailed,  so  long  as  he  does  not 

infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others. 

Sec.   3.  The  right  to  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  or,  satisfy  the  subject's  desires  in 

any  manner  he  pleases  is  inalienable  and  not  to  be  suppressed  or  curtailed  so  long  as 

he  does  not  infringe  upon  or  trespass   the  rights  of  others. 

Sec.  4.  The  needs  of  all  human  beings  in  civilized  countries  are  much  the  same, 

and  may  be  included  under  the  following: 

(a)  Life  and  Health,  (b)  Food,  (c)  Clothing,  (d)  Shelter,  (e)  Proper 
education,  (f)  Suitable  employment,  (g)  Rest,  (h)  Recreation,  (i)  Entertainment, 
(J)   Opportunity  for  religious  culture.     It  shall  be  therefore  a  proper  function  of 


22  EQUITANIA,   OK  TllK   LAM)   OF    KQUITY 

this   government  by  wise   legislation   to   attain   as   far   as  possible   these  desirable 
ends  as  set  forth  in  this  article,  and  its  several  sections. 

ARTICLE  XXVIII. 

Sec.  1.  The  Judicial  power  in  Equitania  shall  reside  in  one  Supreme  Court  of  not 
less  than  three  nor  more  than  seven  members,  and  in  such  other  courts  as  the  Assembly 
may  from  time  to  time  determine. 

Sec.  2.  The  Judges  of  these  courts  shall  hold  their  office  during  good  behavior, 
or  until  they  have  reached  seventy  years  of  age,  a  majority  of  whom  in  each  court  must 
be  men  not  connected  with  the  legal  profession;  they  shall  be  appointed  by  the 
President  and  confirmed  by  the  Senior  House,  and  shall  not  be  under  forty-five  years 
of  age. 

Sec.  3.  The  Judicial  power  shall  cover  all  cases  which  shall  arise  under  the 
Constitution,  treaties  with  other  Powers,  and  all  controversies  which  may  arise  between 
Equitania  and  other  nations,  or  questions  arising  between  different  Districts,  or  the 
subjects  of  different  Districts.  The  interpretation  of  the  constitution  is  reserved  to  the 
citizens   themselves. 

ARTICLE  XXIX. 

No  subject  shall  be  imprisoned  or  despoiled  of  his  freedom,  or  liberties,  outlawed, 
exiled,  or  otherwise  destroyed;  neither  shall  he  nor  his,  be  passed  upon  except  according 
to  law.    And  it  shall  be  unlawful  to  sell,  deny,  or  delay  to  any  subject  justice  or  right. 

ARTICLE  XXX. 
All  voters  must  be  duly  registered  in   the  place  designated,   at  least  fifteen   days 
prior  to  every  election,  and  the  books  of  registration  shall  be  open  to  all  voters  every 
business  day  in  the  year. 

ARTICLE  XXXI. 

Unusual,  excessive,  or  unjust  punishment  shall  not  be  inflicted  upon  any  Equitanian, 
society,  organization  or  corporation;  but  in  so  far  as  possible,  the  penalties  prescribed 
and  inflicted  for  violations  of  law  shall  be  equitable,  humane,  commensurate  with  the 
offense  committed,  and  promptly  executed.  The  adequateness  and  justice  of  the 
punishment,  together  with  the  certainty  and  promptness  with  which  the  penalty  is  visited 
upon  the  violator  of  law  being  effective  deterrents  and  preventives  thereof. 

ARTICLE  XXXII. 

The  Assembly  shall  meet  annually  on  the  first  Wednesday  of  May  at  the  seat  of 
government,  and  when  called  together  by  the  President,  or  upon  a  call  signed  by  a 
majority  of  the  members  of  each  House.  When  the  houses  meet  in  joint  session  the 
Vice-President  shall  be  the  presiding  officer,  unless  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons  in  any 
given  case  the  Assembly  may  see  fit  to  choose  one  of  its  own  members  to  preside. 

ARTICLE  XXXIII. 

The  Assembly  being  a  body  representing  all  the  people  in  their  diversified  interests, 
there  shall  at  no  time  be  an  undue  proportion  of  its  membership  in  either  House  from  any 
one  calling,  business,  or  profession,  but  each  District  should  see  to  it  that  the  different 
lines  of  industry,  labor,  business,  calling  and  profession  are  fairly  represented  in  the 
District  legislatures  and  in  the  Assembly.  Should  such  undue  proportion  at  any  session 
occur,  it  must  be  overcome  by  casting  lots  for  those  who  are  to  remain,  while  those 
who  go  shall  have  their  places  filled  by  an  immediate  election  in  the  localities  from  which 
they  come. 

ARTICLE  XXXIV. 

The  Assembly  shall  make  such  laws  for  immigration  as  shall  be  in  the  interest  of 
Equitania.  While  we  recognize  our  relations  and  duties  to  all  mankind,  since  "One  touch 
of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin,"  still  we  are  specially  responsible  for  our  own, 
and  can  in  no  way  jeopardize  their  interest  or  welfare  by  any  sentimental  effort  to  do 
for  the  outside  world  anything  that  would  bring  injustice  or  disaster  to  those  for  whom 
we  are  directly  responsible.  Standing  for  the  rights  of  individuals,  we  could  not  allow 
others  to  trespass  upon  the  rights  of  our  own,  merely  to  grant  immigrants  privileges. 


IDEAL  CONSTITUTION  23 

ARTICLE  XXXV. 

All  legislation  may  be  initiated  directly  by  the  people  if  five  per  cent  of  the  voters 
petition  for  any  particular  legislation;  and  a  petition  of  ten  per  cent  of  the  voters  shall 
require  any  proposed  law  to  be  referred  to  the  voters  for  their  approval  or  rejection. 
Any  law  upon  which  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Assembly  may  differ  shall  be  referred  to 
the   people   for   final   decision. 

ARTICLE  XXXVI. 
Simple  justice  to  all  concerned  being  a  prime  object  of  government,  it  is  urged 
that  in  so  far  as  possible  all  personal  differences  of  subjects,  society  differences,  and 
those  which  arise  between  corporations,  or  between  corporations  and  individuals,  be 
settled  by  arbitration.  To  promote  this  end,  it  shall  be  the  aim  of  government  to  thus 
adjust  all  of  its  differences  of  every  kind  and  nature  as  being  the  ideal  method. 

ARTICLE  XXXVII. 

All  officers  may  be  impeached  and  deposed,  if  found  guilty  of  bribery,  gross 
injustice,  or  notorious  immorality,  or  for  betraying  the  government  to  any  foreign  power. 

The  President,  Vice-President,  m.embers  of  the  Supreme  Court  are  subject  to 
impartial  trial  by  the  Senior  House.  The  members  of  both  houses  are  subject  to  trial 
by  the  other  members  of  their  respective  houses.  All  other  federal  officers  are  subject 
to  trial  before  the  Supreme  Court.  All  officers  may  be  removed  without  cause  by  a  majority 
vote  of  all  the  citizens,  which  vote  must  be  speedily  taken  when  requested  by  ten  per 
cent  of  the  citizens. 

ARTICLE  XXXVIII. 
The  taxes  in  Equitania  for  support  of  government  in  all  its  departments,  Federal, 
District,  Provincial,  Town  or  City,  shall  be  assessed,  collected,   and  distributed  in   the 
following  manner: 

Sec.  1 .  There  shall  be  a  poll  tax  of  ten  dollars  annually  upon  all  subjects  not 
otherwise  directly  taxed,  except  wives,  dependents,  and  degenerates,  together  with 
a  tax  upon  all  visitors  who  remain  in  Equitania  six  months. 

Sec.  2.  Income  from  lease  of  public  lands,  mines,  forests,  etc. 

Sec.  3.   Income  from  profits  of  all  public  utilities. 

Sec.  4.  Proceeds   from   export   customs   and   import   duties. 

Sec.  5.  By  one  per  cent  inheritance  tax  above  $100,000.00,  and  by  tax  on 
yearly  income  of  one  per  cent  for  $3,000.00  and  up  to  $10,000.00;  two  per  cent 
for  annual  income  over  $10,000.00  and  not  more  than  $50,000.00  and  three  per 
cent  on  all  annual  incomes  over  $50,000.00. 

(A)  The  taxes  named  in  sections  1  and  5  shall  be  assessed  and  collected  in  the 
town,  city,  or  province  where  the  subject  has  his  permanent  home,  or  where  the  visitor 
chiefly  visits  and  shall  be  divided  as  follows: 

1 .  Sixty-five  per  cent  shall  belong  to  the  City  or  Town  where  it  is  collected. 

2.  Ten  per  cent  shall  go  to  the  province  in  which  it  is  collected. 

3.  Fifteen  per  cent  shall  go  to  the  District  in  which  it  is  collected. 

4.  Ten  per  cent  shall  go  to  the  Federal  Government. 

(B)  The  taxes  named  in  section  2  shall  be  assessed,  collected  and  divided  as 
follows : 

1.  The  land  tax  shall  be  assessed  by  the  Federal  Government  and  may  be 
collected  and  divided  upon   the  basis   above  mentioned. 

2.  The  tax  upon  natural  resources,  mines  forests,  waterways,  and  all  others, 
shall  forever  remain  under  Federal  control,  but  their  assessment,  collection  and 
distribution,  as  above  indicated,  may  be  delegated  temporarily  to  the  town,  city, 
province  or  district  in  which  they  are  located,  or  may  be  delegated  to  individuals  or 
corporations  which  shall  be  under  Federal  supervision,  and  open  to  publicity  and 
control  of  the  Federal  Government. 

(C)  The  taxes  mentioned  in  Section  3  on  public  utilities,  shall  be  assessed,  collected 
and  distributed  as   follows: 

a.  All  public  utilities  whose  operations  are  confined  to  a  town,  city,  province 
or  District  shall  be  assessed,  collected  and  distributed  by  the  town,  city,  province 


24  KQL'ITAN'IA,   OK   TlIK    LAND   OF    KgUlTY 

or   district    to   which   its   operations   are   confined,   and   shall   be   divided   as   above 
mentioned. 

b.  All  public  utilities  which  may  be  operated  by  the  Federal  Government  in 
the  interests  of  all  the  people,  and  between  two  or  more  Districts,  shall  forever 
remain  under  Federal  Control,  and  the  revenue  therefrom  shall  belong  exclusively 
to  the  Federal  Government. 

(D)  The  taxes  mentioned  in  Section  4  shall  be  forever  under  Federal  control  and 
used  for  the  expenses  of  the  General  Government. 

(E)  When  the  budget  of  the  Federal  or  General  Government  as  represented  by 
the  Assembly,  is  fully  met  without  the  ten  percent  fund  before  mentioned  as  coming 
from  towns,  cities,  provinces  or  districts,  then  the  Assembly  shall  refund  said  ten  per 
cent  to  the  original  sources  from  which  it  came,  and  these  each  for  itself  may  determine 
by  a  majority  vote  of  its  citizens  whether  to  use  the  said  ten  per  cent  for  public 
improvements,  or  reduce  its  taxes  by  so  much  per  annum. 

ARTICLE  XXXIX. 

The  Federal  Government,  through  its  Assembly  shall  have  power  to  supervise, 
regulate  or  direct  any  and  every  business  which  may  be  carried  on  by  private  individuals, 
corporations,  organizations  or  combinations  of  capital  in  all  parts  of  Equitania. 

The  committees,  boards,  or  commissions  thus  appointed  by  the  Assembly  shall  have 
full  power  of  investigation,  publicity  and  direction  in  the  interests  of  justice  and  equity 
to  all  concerned,  including  the  public,  the  employer,  the  employee  and  the  proprietors 
or  stock-holders. 

ARTICLE  XL. 

It  shall  be  the  duty  of  the  government  so  far  as  possible  to  protect  her  subjects 

from  all  fraudulent  schemes  and  wild-cat  speculations.     To  this  end  the  government  shall. 

Sec.    I.  Hold  to  strict  account  all  persons  who  publicly  advertise  their  goods 

or  wares. 

Sec.  2.  Hold  to  strict  account  all  willful  impostors  and  malicious  promotors. 
Sec.   3.  Guard  the  mails   and  other  public   agencies   from   their   use   in   these 

mischievous    dealings. 

ARTICLE  XLI. 

Sec.  I .  The  Assembly  shall  divide  the  Island  into  fifteen  Districts,  making  No.  1 
to  include  the  first  settlement  at  the  mouth  of  the  river. 

It  shall  have  the  Island  carefully  platted,  showing  all  points  of  interest  and 
importance  together  with  streams,  lakes,  mountains,  valleys,  forests,  and  so  forth,  so 
that  the  other  fourteen  districts  may  be  as  nearly  equal  in  size  and  opportunity  for 
development  as  possible. 

Sec.  2.  The  Districts  may  organize  into  provinces,  cities  and  towns,  whenever  the 
population  so  desires  by  a  majority  vole  of  its  citizens,  if  deemed  wise  by  the  Assembly 
and  such  provinces,  cities  and  towns  shall  form  governments,  enact  laws,  and  elect 
officers  at  their  discretion,  so  long  as  their  respective  governments  are  democratic  in  form 
and  their  constitution  and  laws  do  not  conflict  with  the  Constitution  of  Equitania,  which 
is  the  supreme  law  of  the  land. 

Sec.  3.  District  No.  I  shall  at  once  have  four  Seniors  and  eight  Juniors  elected 
as  already  provided,  and  each  of  the  Districts  as  soon  as  they  can  show  a  total  population 
of  10,000  shall  have  one  Senior  and  two  Juniors  for  the  Senior  and  Junior  Houses  of 
the   Assembly. 

ARTICLE  XLII. 

Amendments  to  this  Constitution  may  be  proposed  by  either  House,  and  when 
recommended  by  a  majority  vote  of  both  Houses,  shall  be  referred  to  the  citizens  for 
final  action  when  a  three-fourths  majority  shall  be  essential  to  its  adoption. 

Amendments  shall  also  be  submitted  by  the  Assembly  to  the  voters  upon  a  ten 
per  cent  petition  of  the  citizens. 


The  Equitanians  say  in  defense  of  this  Constitution  and  its  various  provisions: 

As  it  is  with  the  human  body  so  it  is  with  the  body  politic,  whether  city,  state 
or  nation.  When  all  the  organs  of  the  body  are  working  together  harmoniously 
in  proper  environment  and  in  obedience  to  their  natural  laws,  then  physical  health 


IDEAL  CONSTITUTION  25 

is  the  necessary  result.     When  these  laws  are  disobeyed,  or  discord  occurs  in  the 
working  of  these  organs,   then  physical   disease   follows. 

When  man  as  a  moral  being  lives  in  harmony  with  and  obedience  to  the  laws 
which  belong  to  him  in  this  capacity,  then  he  has  moral  health.  If  he  lives  in 
disobedience  to  the  laws  which  should  govern  his  moral  nature  then  there  is 
discord  and  moral  disease. 

We  may  carry  this  simile  further  and  say,  as  with  the  individual  so  with  the 
community;  when  a  group  of  persons  large  or  small,  individually  or  collectively 
are  obedient  to  the  laws  which  should  govern  rational  beings,  there  is  harmony, 
peace  and  civil  happiness.  When  disobedience  occurs  with  one  or  more  of  these 
individuals,  to  one  or  more  of  the  laws  which  should  govern  these  rational  beings 
in  their  highest  and  best  interests,  then  discord  follows,  there  is  disease  in  the  body 
politic  and  suffering,   disturbance   and  unhappiness   result. 

As  to  what  these  laws  should  be  and  are  to  govern  rational  beings  for  their 
highest  good  and  best  interests,  it  may  be  safely  said  that  they  should  be  such  as  in 
principle  are  applicable  to  all,  possible  for  all,  and  if  followed  and  obeyed  by  all 
would  result  in  universal  peace  and  happiness  to  all.  The  desires  of  all  would  be 
satisfied,  there  would  be  equity  for  all  and  favors  to  none. 

In  other  words,  no  law  or  principle  which  in  its  ultimate  analysis  or  results, 
necessarily  works  an  injustice  or  unreasonable  hardship  upon  one  rational  being 
can  be  good  or  right;  on  the  contrary,  every  law,  in  equity,  must  give  equal  rights, 
privileges,  protection  and  security  to  every  subject  for  like  services. 

One  great  difference  between  men  and  beasts  is  that  the  former  have  intellect, 
reason,  judgment,  and  will  power,  and  are  to  be  led  to  choose  and  do  the  best  thing 
for  their  highest  interests  by  education,  training,  culture,  and  persuasion;  rather 
than  by  force,  this  being  the  essence  of  moral  character.  They  are  to  learn  what 
the  best  things  are  and  then  by  an  internal  choice  and  determination  (not  by  some 
outward  or  external  compelling  force)  do  the  best  thing  and  rise  above  and  superior 
to  their  mere  animal  being.  They  are  to  be  governed  by  their  own  will  power  based 
upon  choice,  made  after  judgment  has  been  formed,  through  information  conveyed 
to  the  mind  by  means  of  the  various  senses  and  the  imagination.  While  beasts  are 
governed  by  instinct,  without  reason  or  judgment,  amenable  to  the  inexorable  laws 
of  their  organism,  without  power  to  change  their  environment,  or  ascertain  the 
laws  of  their  being  or  rise  above  their  animal  nature. 

The  best  course  in  life  is  that  which  fills  the  destiny  of  man,  which  attains  the 
object  of  his  being,  which  reaches  the  goal  for  which  he  was  created;  therefore 
if  we  can  ascertain  the  object  of  his  creation,  it  will  be  easier  to  learn  the  laws 
which  should  govern  him  in  pursuit  of  his  rightful  destiny. 

Obedience  to  the  natural  laws  of  our  being  is  the  only  rational  way  to  health 
and  happiness.  Therefore  the  mere  edict  of  the  church  or  would-be  reformers  that 
this  must  not  be  done,  nor  the  other  left  undone,  will  have  but  little  effect  upon 
rational  minds,  escaped  from  superstitious  fear;  but  the  demonstration  of  facts 
enables  one  to  wisely  choose  the  best  course,  or  unwisely  and  supinely  follow  the 
evil. 

And,  I  think  you  must  agree  that  majorities  have  no  more  right  to  change  a 
fundamental  law  of  agreement  upon  principle  than  individuals.  Majorities  have 
no  more  right  to  usurp  authority  and  do  an  injustice  than  individuals  have. 

The  end  and  aim  of  human  existence,  or  of  rational  beings,  is  abiding  happiness, 
therefore  the  highest  and  most  sublime  mission  of  man  on  earth  is  to  aid  mankind 
as  individuals  and  en  masse  to  achieve  this  end  by  any  means  needful  thereto, 
either  by  religion,  education,  legislation  or  force. 

Anything  then  which  will  contribute  to  this  end  is  right  and  legitimate;  and 
on  the  other  hand  whatever  is  opposed  to  or  obstructive  of  this  aim  and  object  is 
unwise,   improper   and  wrong. 

So  long  as  one's  desires  are  all  satisfied  he  is  happy,  contented  and  at  peace, 
therefore  the  constant  satisfaction  of  all  desires  as  fast  as  they  arise  is  the  only 
means  of  giving  permanent  and  abiding  happiness. 

All  desires  which  may  thus  be  satisfied  without  present  or  future  harm  to  one's 
self  or  any  one  else  are  legitimate  and  right  and  may  be  indulged  or  gratified  in 


26  KQIITAXIA,   OK   TIIK   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

any  manner  not  harmful  to  one's  self  or  some  one  else.  And  on  the  contrary  any 
desire  which  when  gratified  does  work  injury  to  the  person  so  indulging,  or  to  any 
one  else,  is  wrong  and  should  not  be  gratified,  but  such  desire  should  be  displaced 
by  a  good  one. 

Since  every  human  being  desires  happiness,  and  since  abiding  happiness 
can  only  come  from  the  permanent  and  constant  satisfaction  of  all  desires,  and 
since  rightly,  justly  and  equitably  no  desire  can  be  gratified  which  will  do  injury 
either  to  one's  self,  or  another,  therefore  it  should  be  our  duty,  aim  and  pleasure 
to  find  what  are  legitimate  desires  and  how  they  may  be  properly  gratified.  Surely 
no  one  but  is  at  least  willing  that  all,  even  the  poor,  the  outcast,  the  downtrodden 
should  be  happy,  and  that  they  should  have  right  desires  and  have  them  gratified. 
And  if  it  can  be  shown  that  the  real  happiness  of  all,  even  the  rich,  the  highly 
favored  and  the  educated  can  be  permanent  only  upon  a  fair  and  equitable  basis 
where  all  alike  must  have  desires  and  gratify  them  in  such  manner  as  shall  work  no 
hardship  or  injustice  upon  any  one  else,  then  surely  we  can  agree  that  such  is  a 
wise,  humane,  and  feasible  plan,  and  then  we  can  vie  with  one  another  in  bringing 
it  about  so  that  the  greatest  happiness  may  accrue  to  all. 

We  must  as  wise,  judicious,  well-wishers  of  humanity  agree  upon  a  common, 
fundamental  principle  from  which  to  work  before  we  can  intelligently  proceed  to 
any  practical  good  end  for  man  as  man,  or  for  society  as  a  rational  body. 

Every  normal  human  being  is  born  with  an  inate  or  inherent  sense  of  justice, 
as  truly  as  he  is  born  with  a  conscience  whose  universal  cry  is  "I  ought  to  do  right." 
Whenever  this  sense  of  justice  is  violated  or  outraged  there  is  a  deep  revulsion 
of  spirit  and  an  outcry  of  horror  against  the  wrong.  Especially  is  this  true  and  the 
greater  is  the  injury  done  when  such  injustice  is  done  by  the  state;  for  its  right  to 
govern  depends  upon  its  justice  to  the  subjects  under  its  control. 

Who  can  look  upon  the  hardships  of  the  laborers  and  many  of  our  wage  earners 
and  note  the  apparent  inequality  in  the  comforts  of  life  between  those  toilers  of 
long  hours  and  severe  burdens  year  after  year,  and  those  of  less  toil,  great  leisure, 
and  few  hardships,  whose  ease,  and  wealth  and  luxury  are  largely  produced  by 
these  same  hard  worked  employees,  without  a  deep  concern  and  feeling  that  an 
injustice  is  being  done,  and  that  the  desires  of  the  rich,  the  well-to-do,  and  others 
are  being  gratified  at  the  expense  and  injury  of  others)  It  is  not  right,  it  will  not 
last,  it  cannot  endure!  There  must  be  an  adjustment  when  equity  will  prevail,  and 
when  each  will  consider  the  welfare  of  the  other,  and  the  desires  of  each  must  be 
so  modified  as  to  include  the  other. 

It  is  one  of  the  glories  of  man  as  above  the  brute  creation,  that  he  can  learn 
by  experience  and  observation  to  see  the  course  of  events,  that  he  can  reason  from 
cause  to  effect,  and  when  he  has  certain  established  premises  or  determined  facts, 
know  that  certain  conclusions  must  be  drawn  and  then  definite  and  inevitable 
results  must  follow.  And  then  as  a  rational  being  it  is  his  province  to  act  upon  the 
evidence  before  him  and  choose  his  way  accordingly.  He  who  with  the  causes  and 
consequences  all  before  him  chooses  most  wisely  is  of  course  the  wisest  man;  or 
he  who  chooses  the  course  that  will  give  him  the  greatest  permanent  happiness  is 
the  wisest  man.  And  here  we  must  remember  that  universal  law  already  given, 
namely,  that  one  to  be  perfectly  and  permanently  happy  must  have  all  his  desires 
constantly  satisfied;  and  that  no  desire  can  be  thus  justly  satisfied  which  works  an 
injury  to  one's  self,  or  to  another  rational  being. 

Selfishness  (which  means  self-interest  without  regard  to  or  at  the  expense  and 
injury  of  another)  is  wholly  incompatible  with  permanent  happiness.  It  may  give 
a  temporary  satisfaction  and  therefore  an  apparent  happiness,  but  such  cannot  be 
abiding,   because   it   is   unfair,   inequitable,   unjust   and   wrong. 

A  true,  and  therefore  a  broad  conception  of  human  life  with  all  of  its  possi- 
bilities here  and  hereafter  is  essential  to  right  views  of  man's  relations  to  the  race 
and  to  all  intelligent  beings,  and  therefore  to  the  rules  and  regulations,  or  the  laws 
which  must  necessarily  prevail  among  all  of  these  related  rational  beings  before  per- 
fect harmony  and  its  consequent  abiding  happiness  can  universally  prevail.  In  other 
words,  if  there  be  such  a  thing  possible  as  universal  peace,  harmony  and  happiness 


FUNDAMENTAL  PRINCIPLES  27 

among  a  class  or  classes  of  intelligent  beings,  then  there  must  be  knowledge  of 
and  obedience  to  the  laws  governing  such  beings. 

If  there  be  discord,  jealousies,  envyings,  strife  and  contentions  then  there 
must  necessarily  be  absence  of  peace  and  happmess  among  some,  at  least,  of  these; 
for  desires  of  some  are  not  satisfied  else  there  would  be  peace,  which  of  course 
cannot  prevail  while  any  have  unsatisfied  desires. 

If  there  be  in  reality  a  possible  universal  peace,  or  even  in  imagination  such 
a  place  or  state  exist;  then  it  must  be  upon  the  basis  of  all  its  members,  every  one, 
being  satisfied,  contented,  and  therfore  happy  in  their  lot;  for  if  even  one  of  the 
number  properly  belonging  to  this  class  be  dissatisfied,  discontented  and  unhappy, 
then  of  course  it  is  not  a  universal  peace  or  happiness  to  this  community,  society 
or  class,  and  thus  the  theory  must  break  down,  and  then  you  are  forced  to  admit 
that  a  universal  peace  and  happiness  does  not  exist;  and  further  if  conditions  are 
eternally  such  as  to  preclude  the  possibility  of  ever  having  all  desires  of  this  class 
of  intelligent  beings  satisfied,  then  we  are  driven  to  the  inevitable  conclusion  that 
no  such  thing  as  universal  peace  and  happiness  among  intelligent  beings  has  ever 
existed,  nor  can  ever  exist;  that  discord,  unhappiness,  and  selfishness  has  always 
existed,  and  will  ever  continue  to  exist  so  long  as  intelligent  beings  exist,  and  that 
there  is  absolutely  no  hope  for  such  condition  ever  to  prevail,  and  hence  all  effort 
and  work  in  that  direction  are  vain  and  futile. 

If  then  we  are  driven  to  this  conclusion  we  must  go  a  step  further  and  say 
that  there  is  and  can  be  no  perfect,  supreme  being  in  all  the  universe,  and  that  the 
Greeks  were  doubtelss  right  who  believed  and  taught  that  there  were  many  Gods, 
and  among  them  were  jealousies,  envy  and  strife,  like  unto  that  among  men,  and 
that  one  was  supreme  only  until  another  should  arise  who  by  some  fate  or  other 
unknown  power  should  overthrow  the  first  and  supersede  him  for  a  time,  until  he 
in  like  manner  should  be  overthrown,  and  thus  in  endless  procession  the  cycles  of 
eternity  roll  in  ever  changing  turmoil  of  rulers.  For  if  the  one  whom  we  think 
of  and  choose  to  call  the  Supreme  Being,  is  not  perfect  in  all  the  attributes  with 
which  we  naturally  endow  an  intelligent  benig,  then  he  is  not  perfect.  If  he  be 
not  perfect  in  knowledge  of  course  there  is  a  defect.  If  he  be  not  perfect  in  power, 
though  all  other  attributes  were  perfect  and  infinite,  he  would  have  a  defect  of 
vital  importance.  Hence  a  being,  to  be  and  remain  supreme  among  intelligent  and 
reasonable  or  rational  beings,  must  be  perfect,  or  have  all  of  these  attributes  which 
essentially  belong  to  intelligent  beings,  in  perfection  or  to  an  infinite  degree. 

An  unselfish  act  must  be  one  done  primarily  for  the  good  of  another  and 
without  thought  of  self  or  personal  benefit.  A  truly  charitable,  philanthropic  or 
altruistic  act  must  be  done  for  the  good  of  another  and  must  work  no  hardship 
or  injury  to  anyone,  except  it  be  the  sacrifice  of  time,  comfort  and  effort  on  the 
part  of  the  doer,  in  which  case  it  becomes  in  addition  a  self-sacrificing  act  and 
meritorious  in  itself,  because  the  price  paid  is  a  voluntary  sacrifice  of  one's  time, 
money,  effort,  energy  or  other  valuable  service  m  the  interest  and  welfare  of 
another  without  thought,  consideration  or  hope  of  personal  benefit  therefrom.  . 

Every  noble,  self-sacrificing,  charitable,  philanthropic  act,  however  freely  or 
willingly  done,  returns  to  the  doer  of  it  some  compensation  in  the  consciousness 
and  satisfaction  of  an  act  well  done;  and  therefore  in  a  sense  every  such  act  has 
its  own  reward  or  pays  the  doer  thereof  in  the  manner  he  most  enjoys,  and  gives  him 
value  received  for  his  service  of  love  in  this  satisfaction,  or  in  the  gratification  of 
this  desire  for  the  consciousness  of  an  unselfish  act  well  done.  But  if  he  does 
the  deed  or  performs  the  service  for  the  mere  gratification  of  such  desire,  or  with 
this  end  and  aim  in  view,  then  the  act  or  service  is  at  once  taken  out  of  the  realm 
of  the  altruistic,  the  true  philanthropic  or  unselfish  class,  and  becomes  a  selfish 
one.  So  far  as  the  deed  done,  or  the  service  rendered,  is  concerned,  it  may  do  the 
person  who  is  served  just  as  much  good,  and  give  as  great  relief,  but  it  tends  to 
cultivate  a  spirit  of  selfishness  in  the  doer  of  the  deed,  and  hence  is  not  in  the 
class  of  the  wholly  unselfish   and  altruistic  deeds. 

The  spirit  of  self-sacrifice,  of  unselfishness,  of  doing  good  to  others,  or  as 
the  Scriptures  say,  "Look  not  every  man  on  his  own  things,  but  on  the  things  of 


28  EQUITAMA.   OK   THK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

others;"  "Bear  ye  one  another's  burdens  and  so  fulfill  the  law  of  Christ,"  is  the 
spirit  which  wins  the  hearts  of  men  and  triumphs  over  obstacles  and  opposition  of 
every  nation   and  among  all  peoples. 

Sylvester:  Yes,  I  see  the  point  you  have  made  and  believe  it  well  taken  by  these 
people,  but  now  tell  me  about  these  delinquents,  and  others,  and  how  they  manage 
their  cities. 

Horace:  Very  well,  but  as  it  is  late  perhaps  we  had  better  take  up  that  and  other 
questions  again.  Come  over  tomorrow  night  and  I  will  be  glad  to  go  further  into  detail 
with   you. 

Sylvester:  I  thank  you  very  much,  and  will  be  here  promptly  tomorrow  night. 
Good  night. 

Horace:      Good  night,  old  boy. 


CHAPTER  III. 


CITY  GOVERNMENT  AND  SOME  OF  ITS  PROBLEMS. 

Sylvester — Good  evening,  Horace,  meet  my  friends,  Robert  and  Mr.  Smart,  who 
were  so  much  interested  in  this  new  land  from  what  I  told  them,  that  they  persuaded 
me  to  bring  them  along  to  hear  the  discussion  tonight. 

Horace:  How  do  you  do;  I  am  delighted  to  meet  you  and  especially  glad  am  I 
to  know  you  are  Sylvester's  friends  who  are  interested  in  Equitania.  Please  sit  down 
in  comfortable  chairs  and  we  will  proceed,  for  there  is  much  to  tell. 

Robert:  I  thank  you  for  the  kindly  greeting  and  now  pray  go  on,  but  please 
allow  me  to  ask  questions  as  they  occur  to  me. 

Horace:  Yes,  indeed;  stop  me  at  any  point  and  ask  whatever  questions  occur  to 
you  in  order  to  give  you  a  clear  idea  of  this  unique  country. 

A  weakness  of  most  governments  among  men  is  the  permission  of  personal 
dishonesty  or  the  non-fulfillment  of  contracts,  or  failure  to  do  what  one  agrees  to  do. 
In  this  new  land  they  overcome  this  defect  in  the  following  manner:  Give  all  a  fair 
chance  and  then  make  men  pay  their  debts,  their  voluntary  obligations,  whether  it  be 
assumption  of  a  contract  to  pay  money  or  its  equivalent,  or  whether  said  contract  calls 
for  other  consideration.  For  every  man  can  or  cannot  discharge  the  voluntary  obligations 
which  he  assOmes;  and  if  he  can,  but  will  not  he  should  be  forced  to  do  so.  If  he 
cannot  it  is  either  because  he  is  mentally  and  physically  unqualified  and  is  therefore 
a  dependent,  or  he  has  assumed  an  impossible  or  unreasonable  task  from  which  he  may 
be  excused  upon  proper  conditions  by  rightful  authority;  or  finally,  he  has  not  had  a 
fair  chance,  and  this,  his  government  should  give. 

As  an  illustration,  I  may  refer  you  to  the  following  case  which  I  knew  to  occur  in 
the  United  States:  Miss  B.  aged  20  married  Mr.  P.  a  young  man  with  qualifications  for 
and  filling  a  good  position.  After  they  lived  together  for  some  months  with  apparent  satis- 
faction and  happily,  the  wife  became  pregnant,  and  in  a  few  months,  without  warning, 
and  for  no  known  cause,  he  leaves  his  home,  ignores  his  wife,  and  assumes  no 
responsibility  for  his  wife,  nor  his  child  which  is  shortly  to  be  born;  but  goes  his  way, 
careless,  free,  unconcerned  about  the  one  to  whom  he  has  pledged  faith  and  support,  and 
now  with  the  oncoming  child  more  dependent  on  him  than  ever.  Both  the  child  and 
the  mother  are  wards  of  the  state,  and  it  should  be  the  duty  of  the  state  in  its  own 
interests,  and  in  justice  to  its  subjects,  to  hunt  that  man  down  and  make  him  provide  for 
his  own.  Simply  require  him  to  carry  out  the  obligation  which  he  voluntarily  assumed. 
That  would  be  right,  it  would  be  fair,  it  would  be  just.  More  could  not  be  asked,  les.i| 
could  not  be  done  and  equity  established.  The  knowledge  that  justice  would  be  required 
and  secured  at  all  hazards  for  the  subjects,  would  act  as  a  check,  a  safeguard  and  a 
protection  to  all. 

This  woman  now  has  a  babe  and  herself  to  care  for  and  is  without  the  means  for 
self-support,  but  must  go  back  to  her  family  to  bring  an  extra  care,  an  unjust  burden 
upon  them.  And  a  little  later,  possibly,  go  into  the  market  for  wages  and  compete  with 
others  who  already  are  in  an  overcrowded  market,  and  thus  help  to  keep  down  the 
wages,  for  where  the  supply  in  any  community  is  greater  than  the  demand  there  is 
reduction  in  price.  The  husband  in  the  case  has  not  only  done  his  wife  a  wrong  and  his 
baby  an  injustice;  but  more,  he  has  grossly  wronged  the  family  and  imposed  a  hardship 
and  an  injustice  upon  the  other  workers  with  whom  his  wife  must  now  come  into 
competition.  And  if  allowed  to  run  at  large,  he  will  not  stop  at  this,  but  will  keep  as 
mistress  or  marry  temporarily  some  other  innocent  girl  and  make  her  possibly  a  similar 
victim,  or  bring  up  children  stamped  with  his  own  impure  life  or  grievously  perverted 
ideas  of  manhood  and  justice,  which  will  be  a  menace  to  the  state  and  a  disrupter  of 
society. 

(29) 


30  KQUITAXIA,    Oli   TIIK    LAND   OF    KQl'lTV 

In  Equitania  provision  is  made  for  all  such  cases  to  bring  the  man  to  discharge 
his  obHgations  to  his  family  and  thus  protect  the  state  as  well  as  serve  its  weak  subjects. 

Now  when  it  is  shown  that  one  cannot  meet  his  obligations  from  mental  and 
physical  defects,  he  becomes  a  delinquent,  or  a  dependent,  and  is  taken  in  charge  as  such 
by  the  proper  person  provided  for  this  class  and  helped  at  the  point  of  defect  and  in 
just  such  measure  as  will  enable  him  to  meet  and  discharge  his  obligations  and  care 
for  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him.  In  the  meantime  he  is  not  eligible  to  hold 
office  or  vote  in  the  commonwealth,  these  rights  being  reserved  wholly  for  citizens,  all 
of  whom  must  be  self-supporting. 

The  right  of  citizenship  is  taken  from  these  dependents  not  as  a  punishment,  for 
they  have  not  committed  a  crime,  but  for  the  good  and  sufficient  reason,  that  he  who 
is  unable  by  his  sad  and  unfortunate  mental  and  physical  disability  to  care  for  himself, 
is  not  capable  of  helping  to  care  for  the  much  larger  interests  of  others.  Being  himself 
a  dependent,  his  advice,  counsel,  and  government  of  others  would  but  tend  to  make 
all,  dependents  like  himself  and  therefore  would  be  injurious  to  the  state,  and  would 
work  even  more  injury  to  himself,  because  of  the  inadequate  laws  which  he  and  his 
kind  would  enact,  and  because  of  the  injustice  and  cruelly  which  he  and  his  kind  would 
unwittingly  impose  upon  the  state.  Hence  in  his  interests,  as  well  as  for  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  state,  the  affairs  of  state  should  be  managed  and  controlled  by  those  who 
are  wise  enough  to  manage  their  own  affairs  equitably,  honestly  and  successfully. 

If  any  being,  corporation  or  government  had  rightful  and  adequate  authority  to 
govern  a  rational  being,  or  group  of  such  persons,  then  he  or  it  should  issue  or 
promulgate  such  rules  and  regulations  as  may  be  deemed  right  and  best  to  have  the 
subjects  in  harmony  with  the  authority,  and  he  may  also  enact  such  penalties  and 
punishments  as  will  equitably  and  adequately  meet  the  ends  of  justice.  - 

This  is  the  primary  end  of  punishment;  that  is,  the  penalty  inflicted  should  be 
just,  right  and  equitable  and  in  harmony  with,  as  well  as  adequate  to  the  offense,  crime 
or  disobedience. 

When  Jehovah  placed  Adam  and  Eve  in  Eden  he  gave  them  one  command,  the 
violation  of  which  was  to  be  punished  with  death.  That  is  to  say,  continued  obedience 
and  perfect  submission  to  the  Divine  will,  meant  peace,  happiness  and  continued  life; 
while  disobedience  and  refusal  to  submit  to  the  Divine  will,  meant  strife,  sorrow,  death. 
In  the  first  case  it  would  be  harmony  and  connection  with  the  Divine  will,  in  the  second 
case  it  would  be  discord  and  severance  from  the  Divine  will. 

Or,  finally,  obedience  and  harmony  meant  connection  with  the  Source  of  Life  and 
therefore  the  enjoyment  of  life;  while  disobedience  and  discord  meant  separation  from 
the  Source  of  life,  and  therefore  the  loss  of  life,  or  death. 

This  was  perfect  justice,  and  the  punishment  was  adequate  to  the  offense,  and 
hence  Divine  justice  was  satisfied.  But  Jehovah  in  his  infinite  wisdom  saw  fit  to  add 
in  mercy  an  opportunity  for  this  punishment  to  work  repentance  in  man  and  by  the 
provision  of  a  Redeemer  permit  man  to  again  come  into  willing  subjection  and  obedience 
to  the  Divine  will,  and  by  regaining  harmony  and  connection  once  more  with  the  Source 
of  life,  he  might  have  the  more  abundant  life,  even  life  everlasting.  So  that  in  mercy 
this  may  be  a  secondary  object  of  punishment;  or,  justice  and  equity  having  been 
satisfied,  Mercy  may  permit  reformation  to  be  a  secondary  consideration  whereby  the 
offender  may  have  another  chance  for  obedience  and  harmony  with  the  authority  which 
he  has  violated  and  impugned. 

Hence  we  should  bear  in  mind  these  two  objects  of  punishment,  and  their  respective 
relations,    namely: 

1.  Punishment  must  be  meted  out  to  the  offender  in  such  measure  as  will 
be  adequate  to  the  ends  of  justice.     Prov.  25:5  and  16:12;  Ps.  88:14;  Ps.  97:2. 

2.  Justice  having  been  satisfied  in  equity,  the  voice  of  mercy  may  be  heard  in 
order  to  bring  about  the  reformation  of  the  individual  who  has  committed  the 
offense.  But  it  should  always  be  remembered  that  the  primary  object  of  punishment 
and  the  infliction  of  a  penalty  for  violated  law  is  of  right  and  ought  to  be  the 
execution  and  establishment  of  justice;  and  that  only  secondarily  can  the  question 
of  reformation  of  the  criminal  offender  be  considered. 


OBEDIENCE,  HARMONY;  DISOBEDIENCE,  DISCORD  31 

Moses  gives  in  the  following  passages,  the  grounds  upon  which  he  insists  the  children 
of  Israel  should  obey  God,  or  the  reasons  why  Jehovah  can  rightly  and  justly  demand 
obedience  of  them.     See  Deut.    1:6-8;    Deut.   3:1,4;    Deut.  5:1,5,23,27. 

He  then  proceeds  to  plead  for  equity  and  justice  among  the  Israelites  as  follows: 
Deut.  1:16;  11:18-21;  16:18-20;  17:2-11;  25:13-16;  30:11-16.  19,20;  31:6,  7, 
8;    32:1,4. 

Socrates  said,  "What  is  in  conformity  with  justice  should  also  be  in  conformity  to 
the   laws." 

Aristotle  said,  "Justice  is  to  give  to  every  man  his  own." 

Cicero  said,  "Justice  consists  in  doing  no  injury  to  men;  decency  in  giving  them 
no   offense." 

Rosseau  said,  "An  honest  man  nearly  always  thinks  justly." 

Voltaire  said,  "The  sentiment  is  so  natural,  and  so  universally  acquired  by  all 
mankind,  that  it  seems  to  be  independent  of  all  law,  all  party,  all  religion." 

Addison  said,  "To  be  perfectly  just  is  an  attribute  of  the  Divine  nature;  to  be  so 
to  the  utmost  of  our  abilities,  is  the  glory  of  man." 

Bacon  said,  "Judges  ought  to  be  more  learned  than  witty,  more  reverent  than 
plausible,  and  more  advised  than  confident.  Above  all  things,  integrity  is  their  portion 
and   proper   virtue." 

Daniel  Webster  said,  "Justice  is  the  great  interest  of  man  on  earth.  It  is  the 
ligament  which  holds  civilized  nations  together.  Wherever  her  temple  stands,  and  so 
long  as  it  is  duly  honored,  there  is  a  foundation  for  social  security,  general  happiness 
and  the  improvement  and  progress  of  our  race." 

Gladstone  said,  "Justice  delayed  is  justice  denied." 

I  have  seen  somewhere  the  following  which  illustrates  very  clearly  to  my  mind  the 
wisdom  and  basis  of  the  Equitanian  government.  The  question  is  asked,  and  as  you 
will  see,  is  answered  by  a  Christian  writer: 

"How  is  rightful  proprietorship  in,  and  authority  over  intelligent  beings,  animals, 

or   things   always   acquired?" 

Only  in  one  of  four  ways : 

1.  By  creation. 

2.  By  make  or  manufacture. 

3.  By  gift  or  consent  of  the  rightful  owner. 

4.  By  purchase  from  the  rightful  owner. 

MAN'S  FOURFOLD  DUTIES. 
First:         Religious   duties. 

Relations  and  duties  to  God. 

a.  Recognition  of  His  Authority.     Gen.   1  :1,  27;   Acts  II  : 22-28. 

b.  Obedience    to    His    law.      Eccles.       12:13-14;    Matt.    22:36-40;    Ex. 
20:1-17. 

c.  Adoration,  praise  and  worship.     Matt.  4:10. 

d.  Service,  loving  and  faithful.     Rev.  2:10. 
Second:    Personal  character  building. 

Duty  of  choosing  and  working  out  a  personal  destiny. 

a.  Recognize  personal  accountability.     Rom.    14:12. 

b.  Choosing  wisest  destiny.     Jno.  3:16;   Rom.  2:1-11;   Joshua  24:15. 

c.  Make  daily  duties  tributary.     II  Cor.  5:10. 

d.  All  pleasures   should  contribute.    1    Cor.    10:31. 

Third:  Moral  Duties.  Those  which  he  owes  to  his  fellowmen  and  all  lower  animal 
life,  because  of  his  kinship  to  the  former  and  his  God-given  authority  over  the 
latter. 

a.  Duties  of  husband  and  wife. 

b.  Duties  of  parents   to  children. 

c.  Duties  of  children  to  parents. 

d.  Duties  of  brothers   and  sisters. 

e.  Duties  of  master  and  servant.     Col.  3:18-23. 

f.  Duties  of  employer  and  employe.     Col.  4:1. 


32  EgUITAXIA,   Oli  TllK    LAND   OF  EQUITY 

g.  Duties  of  employers  to  one  another, 
h.   Duties  of  laborers  to  one  another.     Col.   3:25. 
i.   Duties  of  man  to  man.     Matt.  22:40. 

j.   Duties  to  all  lower  animals,  domestic  and  wild.     Prov.    12:10. 
Fourth:     Civil  duties,  or  those  which  man  assumes  when  he  becomes  an  integral  part 
of  organized  society  in  town,  city,  state  or  nation. 

a.  Recognition  of  the  Supreme  authority  of  that  government  in  all  civil 
matters  in  which  he  is  concerned.    Rom.  13:1-14.     Book  of  Daniel.     Micah  6 : 8 

b.  Recognition  of  his  rightful  place  in  that  government,  whether  as 
subject  or  officer. 

c.  Obedience  to  its   laws. 

d.  Doing  his  fair  share  in  making  the  laws  just  and  equitable  to  all  its 
citizens  and  helping  to  fairly  execute  them. 

e.  Endeavor  to  have  his  government  deal  fairly  with  all  other  governments 
and  peoples. 

f.  To  do  his  fair  part  in  making  all  the  citizens  safe  in  person  and 
possessions,  and  in  securing  for  them  their  rights  and  the  largest  possible 
liberty  in  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  consistent  with  the  like  freedom  of  others. 

g.  Duties  of  officers   to   the  people, 
h.  Duti'es  of  people  to  the  officers. 

i.  Duties  of  subjects   to  one  another, 
j.  Duties  of  keeping  contracts. 

Man  has  neither  the  authority,  nor  the  power  to  make  another  be  religious, 
or  moral,  because  both  are  elements  of  the  soul  in  its  internal  and  Divine  essence, 
in  its  voluntary  attitude  toward  God  and  man.  The  internal  or  mental  attitude  of 
the  soul  toward  God  is  the  very  essence  or  basis  of  religion,  while  this  internal  mental 
attitude  toward  mankind  and  the  lower  animal  creation  is  the  very  essence  or  basis 
of  morality;  and  the  outward  daily  life  in  each  case  is  the  expression  of  the  two, 
or  religion  and  morality. 

The  deliberate  choosing  of  a  definite  religious  and  moral  aim  in  life  to  develop 
a  certain  kind  of  character  and  destiny,  or  refusing  to  make  such  choice  is  intelligent 
voluntary  character  buildmg. 

The  duties  which  I  assume  as  a  part  of  human  society,  whether  Christian, 
Jew,  Buddhist,  or  Mohammedan,  obligates  me  to  help  secure  to  all,  their  natural 
rights,  and  protect  them  in  their  lives,  possessions  and  liberties,  upon  the  sole 
condition  that  they  do  the  same  to  me  and  mine. 

We  may  not  agree  at  all  in  religion;  we  might  not  agree  in  morals,  nor  in 
character  building,  and  yet  we  might  be  one  in  our  civil  demands. 

a.  The  Christian  wants  protection  in  all  his  natural  rights,  safety  in  life, 
possessions  and  liberty  in  his  religion  and  morals. 

b.  The  Jew  wants  protection  in  all  his  natural  rights,  security  in  his  life, 
possessions   and   liberty   in   religion   and   morals. 

c.  The  BuddhhU  wants   the  same. 

d.  The  Mohammedan  wants  exactly  the  same. 

The  Book  of  Daniel  gives  a  most  perfect  concrete  example  of  Godliness  and 
Christian  morality  of  citizens  in  a  foreign  country. 
Micah    6:8. 

We  may  thus  follow  with  profit  so  wise  and  just  a  plan  as  the  foregoing,  namely: 

1.  The  grounds  upon  which  authority  rests,  or  the  right  of  authority  to  claim 
obedience  to  its  laws  or  edicts,  and 

2.  The  laws  laid  down  by  said  authority,  and  the  rules  of  equity  thereby 
enunciated. 

Bearing  these  principles  in  mind,  we  may  now  proceed  in  this  "Land  of  Equity"  to 
note  the  laws  made  for  the  people;  because  the  rightful  authority  elected  by  the 
voluntary  act  of  the  members  has  been  properly  established  and  they  have  enacted 
equitable  laws  for  all  the  people,  and  provided  for  just  penalties  for  each  and  every 
violation   of  such   laws. 


HUMAN   RIGHTS  AND   OBLIGATIONS  33 

To  this  end  it  will  be  necessary  to  know  where  the  people  belong  with  whom  we 
deal.  Every  person  in  the  "Land  of  Equity"  is  by  birth  or  adoption  a  subject  of  this 
country,  or  he  is  a  visitor  from  some  other  country,  and  each  is  carefully  registered  as 
to  his  exact  residence,  pedigree,  calling,  or  occupation  and  means  of  identification. 
And  in  case  of  a  foreigner,  his  object,  destination,  and  time  of  sojourn  in  the  land. 
Thus  each  one  is  given  his  proper  location  and  is  assigned  to  his  chosen  work  or  duty, 
and  can  always  be  traced  to  his  origin  for  any  future  needed  reference.  Every  human 
being,  no  matter  how  insignificant,  has,  and  by  natural  right  ought  to  have,  a  status 
of  importance,  and  worthy  of  recognition  in  society  wherever  he  may  be  as  citizen, 
subject  or  visitor,  and  in  this  way  only  can  he  be  given  due  and  proper  recognition. 

Then,  too,  every  member  of  the  community  should  pay  his  share  of  the  expense 
of  government  from  the  local  up  to  the  highest  or  general  government  under  which 
he  lives.  Every  visitor  who  spends  as  much  time  as  six  months  in  any  one  year  should 
pay  personal  tax  toward  the  total  government  expenses  for  that  year. 

In  the  United  States  we  prepare  hospitals  to  care  for  the  sick  and  the  insane. 
We  provide  jails,  houses  of  correction,  reformatories,  penitentiaries,  and  policemen  to 
arrest,  guard  and  punish  the  criminal  classes,  but  what  do  we  to  help  prevent  any  and  all 
of   these  needing   such  care? 

My  contention  is  that  not  only  is  it  wiser,  more  economic  and  more  humane  to  so 
care  for  these  people  that  they  will  not  need  policemen  for  their  arrest,  jails,  reforma- 
tories, penitentiaries  for  their  correction,  and  asylums  as  well  as  hospitals  for  their 
ailments;  but  that  it  is  a  very  important  part  of  the  government's  duty  to  make  such 
provision,  and  this  is  the  plan  in  Equitania. 

In  short  if  it  were  possible  for  the  government  by  any  reasonable  means  to  prevent 
all  need  for  such  places  and  such  officers,  would  it  not  be  well  for  it  to  do  so,  and  would 
not  the  people  demand  it>  Then  why  not  go  as  far  as  it  can  in  the  matter  of  prevention? 
And  this  it  can  do  by  giving  all  of  its  subjects  an  equal  chance,  helping  all  who  may 
need  it  in  getting  suitable  employment,  improving  or  making  tolerable  their  environment 
in  living  and  in  work,  in  seeing  to  it  that  the  strong  do  not  unfairly  impose  upon  the 
weak,  nor  the  learned  and  shrewd  take  undue  advantage  of  the  ignorant,  and  that 
every  one  shall  have  a  fair  chance  to  earn  a  living  and  get  food,  shelter  and  clothing 
for  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him,  and  that  he  have  opportunity  for  rest, 
recreation,  amusement,  and  instruction  aside  from  the  time  necessarily  required  for  his 
employment.  If  the  twenty-four  hours  of  the  day  were  divided  into  three  equal  periods 
of  eight  hours  for  work,  eight  hours  for  sleep  and  eight  hours  for  recreation,  amusement, 
instruction  and  religious  exercises,  all  necessary  work  could  be  done  well,  and  everybody 
could  have  time  and  opportunity  for  such  training,  education,  culture  and  personal 
improvement  as  would  be  greatly  helpful  to  the  state  as  well  as  to  the  individual.  That, 
too,  would  give  all  a  chance  to  more  fittingly  observe  the  Sabbath  day  as  a  day  of 
worship,  and  such  sacred  rest  as  each  might  desire. 

By  improving  the  environment,  the  hygienic  conditions,  the  education,  the  health 
of  the  masses  who  now  live  and  work  at  tremendous  disadvantage  and  with  an  almost 
insurmountable  handicap,  we  in  the  United  States  would  at  once  elevate  the  entire 
citizenship  to  a  surprising  degree,  and  make  for  the  happiness  of  the  whole  common- 
wealth; and  the  Equitanians  have  skillfully  brought  these  things  to  pass. 

Take  for  example  non-fulfillment,  or  violation,  of  contract.  Here  the  penalty  is 
commensurate  with  the  evil  done,  and  the  offender  compelled  to  discharge  his  obliga- 
tions, or  in  lieu  thereof,  indemnify  the  injured  party,  and  is  deprived  of  his  liberties 
and  privileges  as  a  citizen  most  equitably  in  keeping  with  his  shortcomings. 

Again,  drunkenness  is  a  crime  or  offense  not  often  punished  with  any  degree  of 
equity,  or  in  harmony  with  reason  and  sound  judgment.  The  Scriptures  say,  "The 
drunkard  shall  not  enter  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven."  "The  drunkard  and  the  glutton 
shall  come  to  poverty."  "Be  not  drunk  with  wine,"  and  "Woe  unto  him  that  putteth 
the  bottle  to  his  neighbor's  lips,  and  maketh  him  drunken  also,"  "Be  not  among  wine- 
bibbers,"  and  many  other  warnings  against  excessive  or  improper  use  of  alcoholics,  and 
the  abuse  of  any  of  God's  bountiful  gifts  which  are  intended  for  man's  good.  But 
wath  this  phase  of  the  question  our  highest  and  best  duty  is  done  when  we  warn,  educate, 
train  and  persuade  our  fellowmen  along  these  lines,  and  by  word  as  well  as  by  our 
individual  example  teach  them  God's  truth  and  urge  by  the  loving  persuasion  of  words 


:n  p:qu[tania,  ok  tin;  laM3  of  EguiTV 

and  life  to  individual  acceptance  and  practice  of  these  precepts.  So  that  in  civil  affairs 
we  rightly  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  question  of  what  a  man  eats,  drinks,  or  wears 
until  his  course  in  some  very  definite  way  interferes  with  or  transgresses  the  equal  rights 
of  others.  Even  if  a  man  eats,  drinks,  or  takes  drugs  to  excess  the  state  could  not 
rightly  suppress  it  and  punish  him  for  that  action  until  he  had  in  some  way,  done  injury 
or  threatened  injury  to  some  other  citizen  or  person  whom  the  state  is  bound  to  protect. 
So  that  if  a  man  were  to  take  his  whiskey  jug  and  go  to  some  wild  and  uninhabited 
region  he  might  revel  with  his  cups  to  his  heart's  content  and  no  man  could  justly 
interfere  by  any  physical  force  with  that  inalienable  right.  But  when  he  comes  into 
society  and  by  his  cups  trespasses  upon  the  rights  of  his  fellow  citizens,  he  at  once 
becomes  amenable  to  any  laws  of  equity  which  the  society  of  which  he  is  a  part  may 
see  fit  to  enact.  Suppose  by  his  over-indulgence  he  deprives  his  family  of  the  work 
and  money  needful  to  their  support.  Here  he  violates  a  fair  and  voluntary  contract  which 
he  entered  into  when  he  assumed  the  marriage  relation  and  which  he  should  be  made 
to  keep,  because  he  can  keep  it,  and  in  equity  he  ought  to  keep  it,  and  the  state  is 
justly  and  fairly  bound  in  its  duty  to  the  wife  and  children  who  are  its  dependent  subjects 
to  compel  the  enforcement  of  the  obligations  which  it  has  allowed  him  to  assume  when 
he  married  the  wife.  Therefore  if  he  does  not  provide  for  his  family,  but  wastes  his 
time  and  money  in  drink  he  should  be  deprived  of  his  citizenship,  put  to  work  under 
a  suitable  guardian,  and  his  earnings  used  for  his  own  and  his  family's  needs.  The 
monstrous  practice  of  fining  the  drunkard,  end  perhaps  putting  him  in  jail  for  30  or  60 
days  is  a  most  absurd  and  unjust  practice,  for  here  the  state  takes  from  the  fellow  money 
which  his  family  needs,  and  time  for  useful  work  which  would  be  for  his  good  as  well 
as  for  the  good  of  the  state  and  the  family.  The  punishment  should  be  adequate  to 
and  fully  compensatory  of  the  injury  done,  and  the  offended  party  should  get  the 
benefit  of  the  penalty  which  in  this  case  is  the  wife  and  family  first,  then  whatever  ill 
is  done  the  state  will  be  fully  atoned  by  depriving  the  criminal  of  his  citizenship,  to  be 
restored  only  when  reformation  has  been  accomplished.  Suppose  the  man  be  single 
and  has  no  one  rightly  dependent  upon  him,  then  deprival  of  citizenship  and  compulsory 
useful  employment  would  be  ample  and  yet  a  just  punishment.  Of  course  I  do  not 
forget  that  the  influence  of  the  drunkard  upon  society  is  bad,  and  the  influence  upon 
his  children  by  heredity  is  bad  and  can  hardly  be  overcome,  so  that  in  hopelessly 
incurable  cases  the  operation  of  vasectomy  in  men  and  resection  of  the  tube  in  women 
to  prevent  reproduction  of  their  kind  is  not  only  just  and  wise,  but  humane  and 
necessary  in  the  interests  of  posterity  for  whom  in  a  very  important  respect  we  are 
responsible.  Another  advantage  to  the  young  and  rising  generation  of  such  laws  would 
be  their  educative  value  as  a  stimulant  to  sober  citizenship  and  a  preventive  of 
drunkenness.  We  owe  it  to  our  boys  and  girls  to  teach  them  the  truth  about  these 
things,  and  then  our  legislation  should  be  in  harmony  with  our  scientific  knowledge  of 
the   facts   about  which   we   enact   laws. 

One  of  the  most  useful  things  to  teach  children  and  lead  them  to  a  desirable 
citizenship  is,  the  importance  of  self-mastery,  self-control  and  the  possibility  of  such 
personal  development,  because  we  belong  to  the  intelligent  human  race,  and  not  merely 
to  the  animal  kingdom.  It  is  bcause  of  this  possibility  of  our  being  controlled  by 
reason,  judgment,  and  will  that  we  can  claim  superiority  to  the  lower  animal  life 
around  us,  and  the  matter  of  food  and  drink  are  only  parts  of  the  great  world  about 
us  in  which  we  need  to  exercies  intelligent  control  of  ourselves;  but  if  we  once 
appreciate  the  principle  and  put  forth  the  will-power,  to  govern,  then  it  only  remains 
for  us  to  broaden  our  knowledge  of  things  that  are  good  or  bad  for  us,  and  we  at  once 
have  our  reserve  power  and  our  defensive  armour  ready  for  any  emergency  which 
may  arise,  and  we  act  at  once  with  vigor,  precision  and  success. 

The  will  is  the  citadel  of  manhood  and  until  it  be  overthrown  the  man  is  not 
subdued  nor  can  all  the  devils  in  or  out  of  hell  overcome  him  so  long  as  a  right  will 
is  intact. 

Regarding  the  question  of  drunkenness  and  the  saloon,  the  use  of  tobacco  and  the 
running  of  tobacco  shops  in  this  "Land  of  Equity:" 

Any  one  is  allowed  to  make,  sell  or  use  all  kinds  of  alcoholics  and  tobacco  just 
exactly  as  any  other  things  of  luxury,  as  coffee,  tea,  guns,  knives,  swords,  and  so  forth, 
and  upon  the  same  basis,  making  the  one  vvho  sells  responsible  only  for  two  things: 


IMPORTANCE   OF  SELF-MASTERY  35 

First — A  genuine,  or  pure  article,  as  called  for,  and 

Second — Selling  or  giving  only  to  responsible  persons.     And  for  any  violation 

of  these  requirements,  they  mete  out  to  him  an  adequate  and  effective  penalty. 

In  the  next  place  the  one  who  buys,  or  receives,  and  uses  them  being  a  responsible 
person  he  must  be  held  accountable  for  any  injury  or  harm  he  does  to  another  through 
the  use  of  these  agencies.  Whenever  he  harms  his  family,  his  friend,  acquaintance  or 
stranger,  he  must  be  brought  to  quick  justice,  and  no  excuses  allowed  that  "he  didn't 
know  it  was  loaded,"  or  he  "didn't  know  what  he  was  doing,"  or  he  "couldn't  control 
himself,"  or  he  "couldn't  help  it."  If  this  be  his  plea  and  it  be  true  and  well  established, 
then  he  is  at  once  taken  out  of  the  responsible  class  of  citizens  and  treated  accordingly. 
You  can  never  develop  strength  of  character,  force  and  moral  worth  in  the  boys  and 
young  men  of  a  community,  but  by  requiring  it  of  them,  and  making  them  stand  the 
test  of  life  by  resisting  the  evil  and  doing  the  good  voluntarily.  Neither  can  we  make 
them  see  and  appreciate  the  value  of  the  one  and  the  uselessness  and  harm  of  the  other 
but  by  putting  a  suitable  premium  upon  the  first  and  a  mark  of  disapproval  and  stigma 
upon  the  second.  Exalt  the  one  because  worthy,  and  penalize  in  a  suitable  measure 
the  other  because  it  is  just  and  right,  and  further  because  of  its  educational  value. 

Teach  the  young  the  truth  about  these  things  as  fast  as  we  know  it,  and  when  old 
enough  let  them  choose  for  themselves  whether  or  not  to  indulge  at  all  and  hold  each 
responsible  to  the  community  for  any  damage  he  may  do  it,  or  any  member  thereof. 
So  long  as  he  sells  or  uses  any  of  these,  and  like  commodities,  in  the  proper  manner, 
it  is  his  personal  right  and  God-given  privilege,  and  no  government  has  any  right  to 
say  to  any  of  her  responsible  citizens  you  shall  not  use  them  in  this  manner,  for  when 
it  does  it  usurps  authority  and  by  so  doing  is  teaching  its  citizens  false  doctrine  and 
sowing  seed  which  is  bound  to  bring  forth  a  fruitage  of  evil  deeds. 

Teaching  the  truth  along  lines  of  personal  accountability  and  individual  responsi-t 
bility,  and  emphasizing  the  fact  that  man  is  and  by  right  as  a  free  moral  agent,  ought 
to  be,  the  builder,  the  artificer  of  his  own  character,  will  add  strength  to  any  appeal 
to  mankind  which  comes  to  the  youth  of  the  community,  and  real  worth,  will-power, 
and  moral  strength  can  come  in  no  other  way.  If  it  be  true  in  any  important  sense, 
"He  can,  because  he  thinks  he  can,"  then  it  will  be  equally  true  that  he  cannot,  because 
he  thinks  he  cannot,  and  he  is  whipped  in  the  fight  before  he  has  begun.  You  develop 
weaklings;  boneless,  nerveless,  and  insipid  youths  by  teaching  them  to  be  dependent 
upon  surroundings,  favorable  circumstances,  conditions  void  of  temptation,  and  leading 
them  to  believe  they  cannot  stand  when  tempted,  and  that  they  are  really  excusable 
any  way  when  they  fall,  as  it  was  the  fault  of  their  tempter,  or  their  conditions,  or 
their  companions,  or  their  heredity,  or  some  other  equally  foreign  or  foolish  thing,  and 
they  themselves  are  not  to  blame.  You  make  sport  of  every  man's  well-known  experience 
and  you  make  a  travesty  of  human  intelligence  and  human  responsibility  when  you 
teach  such  false  abominable  doctrine,  and  you  hold  up  to  derision  the  plain  teaching  of 
Scripture  which  says,  "So  then  every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God." 
That  is  to  say  you  must  give  an  account  of  your  personal  actions  and  thoughts  toward 
God  and  toward  your  fellowmen,  not  how  they  acted  toward  you,  towards  your 
teachings  or  influence,  nor  yet  how  they  acted  toward  God  and  truth.  They  will  give 
that  report,  and  you  must  give  your  own  individual  report  for  yourself.  The  earlier 
the  children  learn  and  act  upon  this  truth,  the  better  for  the  men  and  women  which  they 
become.  I  am  sure  that  in  our  modern  civilization  there  is  too  much  blame  laid  upon 
others  for  the  faults,  shortcomings  and  sins  of  the  individual,  and  too  little  recognition 
of  personal  ability  to  do  or  not  to  do  the  right,  and  therefore  of  personal  responsibility, 
and  it  comes  from  the  Devil  himself  suggesting  this  false  doctrine  to  people  and  they 
take  it  as  a  soothing  panacea,  and  lull  themselves  to  peace,  and  even  to  sleep  in  this 
erroneous  justification   for  their  evil  deeds  and  wrong-doing. 

PROHIBITION  AS  TAUGHT  BY  THE  PROHIBITION  PARTY  AND  ITS  ADVOCATES 
IN  GENERAL,  IS  UNJUST,  IMMORAL  AND  UNSCRIPTURAL. 

First — It  is  unjust  because  it  undertakes  by  false  doctrines  and  sentimental 
argument  to  coerce  a  majority  to  yield  a  harmless  and  pleasant  indulgence  for  the  sake 
of  an  insignificant  minority  who  abuse  this  privilege  and  enjoyable  pastime.  Because 
It   seeks   to    forbid,   condemn    and   make   criminal    a   perfectly   innocent,    harmless    and 


36  EQUITANIA.   UK   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

legitmate  act  (making,  giving  and  selling  alcoholics)  by  tacitly  or  inferentially  excusing 
the  improper  use  or  abuse  of  these  drinks  which  is  the  real  evil  or  wrong. 

It  is  absolutely  certain  that  no  course  can  ever  permanently  triumph  or  benefit  the 
human  race  which  is  based  upon  injustice,  as  Prohibition  most  certainly  is,  for  we  read^- 
"Justice  and  Judgment  are  the  habitation  of  Thy  Throne." 

Second — It  is  immoral  because  it  seeks  to  take  away  personal  accountability  in  the 
building  of  character.  It  seeks  to  make  the  individual  a  victim  of  temptation  and  of 
circumstances — a  mere  puppet  or  automaton  in  the  hands  of  the  tempter;  because  it 
magnifies  the  power  of  the  Devil  and  minimizes  the  power  of  God;  because  it  makes 
the  power  of  man  in  collusion  with  the  Devil  greater  than  the  power  of  God;  because 
it  magnifies  the  power  of  men  En  Masse  in  making  laws  for  the  moral  government  of 
men  by  outward  external  agencies,  and  minimizes  the  power  of  God  over  the  individual 
man  by  an  internal  agency — The  Holy  Spirit,  who  can  enable  the  man  to  choose  the 
right  and  make  him  efficient  in  doing  the  right;  because  it  implies  an  imperfection  in 
the  work  and  plans  of  the  Creator.  It  seeks  to  substitute  Satan's  plan  in  the  moral 
government  of  the  world,  for  God's  plan,  that  is  to  say — Satan  would  make  us  believe 
that  the  only  way  to  have  man  live  a  good  life  is  to  surround  him  with  such  laws  and 
conditions,  make  his  environment  such  that  he  cannot  go  wrong.  While  God's  plan  is 
to  place  men  in  the  world,  give  them  the  power  of  choice,  create  within  them  the  desire 
for  holy  living  and  give  them  power  to  triumph  over  circumstances  and  build  worthy 
characters  in  spite  of  and  thru  the  help  of  adverse,  external  conditions.  It  is  an  effort 
to  substitute  allegiance  to  Satan  for  allegiance  to  God.  It  is  the  same  old  trick  he 
played  in  Eden  when  he  got  Eve  to  choose  obedience  to  Satan  rather  than  to  Jehovah. 
He  now  comes  back  as  an  Angel  of  Light  in  these  days  and  asks  us  to  obey  him  on 
the  Temperance  question,  rather  than  God  and  so  he  proposes  Prohibition  as  a  substitute 
for  temperance  and  lo!   a  host  rise  up  and  follow  his  leadership. 

Third — It  is  unscriptural  because  it  seeks  to  condemn  and  penalize  the  maker, 
giver  or  seller  of  alcoholics  while  it  condones  and  excuses  the  user  and  abuser  of  these 
drinks;  because  it  seeks  to  forbid,  condemn  and  make  criminal  the  maker,  giver,  or 
seller  of  alcoholics,  while  it  excuses,  pities  and  in  a  large  measure  exonerates  the 
drunkard.  The  Scriptures  nowhere  condemn  the  making,  giving  or  selling  of  alcoholics 
but  they  most  emphatically  condemn  their  improper  use  or  abuse.  "Be  not  drunk  with 
wine  wherein  is  excess." 

The  scriptures  teach  the  personal  accountability  of  the  individual  to  God  for  his 
every  act  and  deed  and  in  no  wise  excuses  him,  for  it  is  wisely  and  justly  said — "So 
then  everyone  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God." 

But  according  to  the  Prohibition  principle  applied  in  like  manner  to  other  moral 
qualities  it  would  make  the  absconding  bank  cashier  a  poor  unfortunate  victim  of  circum- 
stances, not  so  much  guilty  of  any  crimes,  as  are  his  employers  who  did  not  keep 
temptation  out  of  his  way.  As  the  highwayman  who  knocks  down  and  robs  the  night 
pedestrian  of  his  watch,  diamonds  and  money,  is  not  so  much  to  blame,  for  said 
pedestrian  ought  not  to  have  been  out  alone  after  night  with  watch,  diamonds  and  money. 
The  temptation  was  too  great,  the  highwayman  was  helpless  in  the  face  of  such  great 
odds  and  society,  forsooth,  must  remove  these  temptations  out  of  the  poor  robber's  way. 
Or.  the  married  man  who  leaves  his  wife  and  children  to  run  off  with  another  man's 
wife,  is  not  so  much  to  blame,  for  the  other  man  should  have  kept  his  more  attractive 
wife  out  of  the  way  of  the  deserter  and  not  let  such  great  temptations  overtake  his 
neighbor;  or  perhaps  his  own  wife  is  wholly  to  blame,  or  surely  society  is  to  blame  for 
not  makmg  it  impossible  for  him  to  sin  in  this  way  and  transgress  the  customs  and  good 
forms  of  society.  Surely  the  poor  man  is  not  to  blame  for  losing  interest  in  his  own 
wife  and  children  and  becoming  infatuated  with  another  man's  wife.  Poor  fellow,  how 
could  he  help  it?  Society  is  to  blame  for  having  such  customs  and  laws  as  will  interfere 
with  his  freedom  and  he  should  be  freely  excused  because  there  was  the  temptation  and 
he  could  not  help  yielding  to  it. 

As  the  preacher,  priest  or  bishop  who  has  a  wild  escapade  with  a  charming  young 
woman  of  his  flock,  cannot  be  blamed  so  very,  very  much,  for  the  beautiful  and  fasci- 
nating young  woman  should  have  kept  out  of  his  sight,  she  should  not  have  been  in  his 
way,  the  church  ought  to  have  made  it  impossible  for  him  to  have  been  tempted  by 
her  presence  and  charms  which  he  had  not  the  strength  to  resist.     Society  is  guilty,  the 


IMPORTANCE   OF  SELF-CONTROL  37 

church  is  gulhy  or  she  is  guilty,  but  not  the  poor  preacher,  the  priest  or  the  bishop! 
Oh!  No,  he  poor  fellow,  could  not  help  it,  therefore  he  is  not  to  be  censured  too  much, 
just  enough  to  pacify  public  clamor,  but  really  we  do  not  feel  that  he  is  so  much  to 
blame  as  the  girl,  the  church  or  society,  which  failed  to  make  it  impossible  for  him  to 
be   thus   tempted!   !   ! 

Then  too,  we  must  reverse  the  divine  and  even  common  verdict  against  profanity. 
For  when  a  man  uses  profane  language  and  takes  the  name  of  God  in  vain,  he  has 
become  angry,  he  has  lost  his  temper,  somebody  or  something,  has  annoyed  him  or 
he  has  grown  careless;  and  unthoughtedly  he  uses  the  oath  and  of  course  is  not  to  blame 
for  how  could  he  help  it?  There  was  the  provocation,  the  carelessness  or  thoughtlessness 
and  he  was  a  victim  of  circumstances  and  Lo!  the  oath  is  uttered,  the  divine  command 
is  broken,  the  sin  is  committed.  Now  surely  the  person  or  thing  that  annoyed  him,  the 
thing  that  caused  him  to  lose  his  temper,  or  make  him  thoughtless,  was  to  blame  for  if 
that  had  not  occurred,  would  he  have  uttered  the  profane  word?  Or  perhaps  it  was  his 
unruly  tongue  and  this  member  was  to  blame  for  if  he  had  not  had  a  tongue,  or  if 
deprived  of  the  power  of  speech,  he  would  not  be  profane;  therefore,  it  must  be  his 
tongue  that  is  at  fault,  or  his  temper  or  his  surroundings  or  his  vocation  which  makes 
it  easy  for  him  to  give  way  to  his  temper,  or  habit  by  profanity!  But  listen-^"Thou 
shalt  not  take  the  name  of  the  Lord,  thy  God,  in  vain."  No  apologies  here,  no  excuses 
accepted,  no  extenuating  circumstances  allowed. 

Again  applying  the  Prohibition  principle  to  murder,  a  man  feels  himself  aggrieved 
by  another  and  goes  out  to  hunt  him  down  with  his  gun;  or  two  men  get  into  an 
argument  over  a  game  of  cards  or  some  other  small  matter  and  one  kills  the  other,  or 
two  men  get  into  an  altercation  over  a  woman  and  in  the  quarrel  one  is  killed.  Now 
surely  the  man  who  could  not  control  his  temper  and  happened  to  prove  the  best  and 
quickest  shot  is  not  to  blame;  the  other  man  should  not  have  provoked  him,  the  woman 
should  not  have  let  herself  be  a  temptation,  the  man  should  not  have  aggrieved  his 
fellowman  in  any  way;  the  man  killed  should  not  have  been  in  the  way,  in  fact  all  of 
these  conditions  were  at  fault  and  they,  or  surely  society  at  large,  should  have  made 
it  impossible  for  this  poor  fellow  to  kill  his  fellowman.  Surely  if  there  had  been  no 
revolvers,  guns,  swords,  knives  or  other  death-dealing  agencies,  then  no  murder  would 
have  been  committed.  In  other  words,  there  was  the  opportunity,  the  temptation  and 
agency  by  which  the  murderer  could  commit  the  act  and  he,  poor  fellow,  could  not 
resist  the  temptation  and  so,  was  not  much  to  blame,  if  at  all.  But  hark  you!  "Thou 
shalt  not  kill."  No  soft  words  here,  no  flimsy  excuses  allowed,  no  laying  blame  or 
guilt  upon  one's  tempter,  surroundings  or  other  frivolous  conditions. 

Suppose  you  take  another  example,  lying  or  bearing  false  witness  against  your 
neighbor.  Now  according  to  the  Prohibition  principle,  your  neighbor  ought  not  to  make 
it  possible  for  you  to  he  about  him.  He  ought  to  so  humor  you,  or  keep  out  of  your 
sight  and  knowledge,  that  you  could  not  lie  about  him.  Both  he  and  society  should  make 
it  impossible  for  you  to  bear  any  false  witness  by  tongue  or  pen  about  him.  Here  again; 
if  you  were  dumb  and  could  not  write  or  make  signs,  you  could  not  bear  false  witness 
against  your  neighbor,  or,  if  you  had  no  neighbors,  or  other  fellowmen  in  the  world, 
you  could  not  lie  about  them,  so  of  course  it  must  be  the  fault  of  your  neighbor  or  of 
society  that  does  not  make  it  impossible  for  you  to  bear  false  witness  against  your  neighbor. 
Poor  man,  there  is  the  neighbor,  the  opportunity,  the  temptation  which  he  cannot  resist 
and  he  must  be  excused;  and  the  neighbor,  for  being  in  the  way,  or  doing  something 
that  arouses  his  envy  or  jealousy,  must  be  condemned.  The  real  culprit  is  excused, 
condoned  or  exonerated  because  he  could  not  help  it.  But  what  of  this  specific  command 
— ^"Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbor."  You  must  resist  the  tempta- 
tion, you  must  conquer  the  evil  within,  you  must  control  that  evil  tendency,  that  bad 
disposition,  or  you  are  the  guilty  party. 

Finally,  take  the  question  of  Sabbath  observance.  Poor  man!  He  doesn't  want 
to  keep  any  day  Holy,  he  wants  the  days  of  the  week,  month  and  year,  to  do  as  he 
pleases;  he  wants  freedom;  he  wants  his  own  way;  he  doesn't  like  to  be  tied  down  to 
rules  and  regulations.  He  has  his  own  ideas  and  wants  to  carry  them  out.  Now  if 
there  were  no  day  set  apart  for  a  Holy  Day,  of  course  he  could  not  dishonor  it,  he  could 
not  desecrate  it;  therefore,  better  just  remove  the  day  out  of  his  way;  there  is  the 
opportunity  to  disobey,  the  temptation  to  disregard  the  day,  and  poor  man!      He  can't 


38  KQUITANIA,   OR   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

restrain  himself,  he  can't  help  wanting  his  own  way,  he  can't  resist  the  temptation,  so 
he  is  not  to  blame  so  long  as  both  the  opportunity  and  temptation  are  before  him; 
therefore,  remove  the  temptation  out  of  his  way,  make  it  impossible  for  him  to  disobey 
and  he  will  not  do  it.  You  must  abrogate  the  Sabbath  Day  and  no  longer  have  a 
Hoiy  Day,  because  forsooth!  This  poor  helpless  man  in  the  midst  of  such  temptation, 
cannot  resist  it  and  hence  there  must  be  no  day  set  up  to  command  his  allegiance. 
"Remember  the  Sabbath  Day  to  Keep  it  Holy,"  is  too  hard  for  man  and  he  is  not  to 
blame  for  desecrating  the  Day  since  the  temptation  being  before  him,  he  is  not  able 
to  resist  it. 

Thus  we  find  the  Prohibition  principle  for  temperance  applied  in  like  manner  to 
all  moral  questions,  that  is,  the  duty  of  individuals,  the  society  or  the  state  to  make  it 
impossible  for  men  to  do  \vr0n2,  to  transgress  or  violate  all  moral  laws,  does  away 
entirely  with  personal  accountability  or  the  building  of  moral  character. 

It  is  right  and  proper,  and  we  owe  it  as  a  duty  to  our  fellovvmen,  to  improve  both 
the  heredity  and  the  environment  of  our  fellowbeings,  for  they,  and  especially  the 
latter,  do  work  a  hardship  upon  mankind  and  the  overwhelming  difficulties  of  environ- 
ment often  make  it  exceedingly  hard  to  rise  above  them  into  one's  greatest  possibilities 
and  overcome  these  grave  obstacles;  and  we  who  put  the  stumbling-block  or  environ- 
ment of  vice,  ignorance,  poverty  and  all  evils  in  the  way  of  our  fellow  creatures,  or 
having  the  power  to  remove  them  and  do  not,  are  guilty  in  a  high  degree  of  doing  a 
wrong  to  one  who  has  a  right  to  our  help  and  co-operation  for  mutual  growth  and 
progress,  and  for  the  failure,  wrong,  or  sin,  we  must  one  day  give  an  account.  We 
shall  not  be  called  to  account  for  his  sin,  but  for  our  own  neglect  of  a  privilege  or  duty 
which  may  be  our  sin.  He  will  give  account  for  his  own  sin  for  himself,  no  matter 
what  his  environment  nor  how  much  some  one  else  may  have  contributed  to  or  abetted 
him  in  his  sin.  Just  as  the  one  who  is  surrounded  by  a  most  desirable  and  helpful 
environment  shall  get  credit  for  his  upright  and  righteoous  life,  so  the  one  who  leads 
an  evil  life  in  bad  and  vicious  surroundings  must  be  rewarded  accordingly.  That  is  to 
say,  the  reward  or  commendation  of  the  good,  goes  to  the  individual  and  not  to  his 
surroundings,  and  so  the  punishment  or  condemnation  goes  to  the  individual  and  not  his 
surroundings.  The  personality,  the  individual  and  not  the  surroundings  and 
environment,  is  the  responsible,  the  accountable  party.  It  could  not  be  otherwise 
in  reason  and  justice  toward  rational,  intelligent  beings.  I  have  my  weakness, 
you  have  yours,  each  has  his  own  peculiar  tendency  to  evil,  wrong-doing,  or  sin 
and  therefore  each  has  his  own  battle  to  fight,  his  own  honors  to  win,  and  you 
cannot  in  the  nature  of  things'  be  responsible  for  mine  nor  I  for  yours.  I  am  responsible 
for  and  must  give  account  of  my  actions  toward  you  and  toward  my  fellowmen  in 
every  walk  of  life,  but  I  am  not  responsible  for  the  attitude  which  you  assume  toward 
those  actions.  My  responsibility  ceases  where  yours  begins.  They  do  not  cross  nor 
conflict.  I  might  attempt  to  do  you  a  great  injury  with  malice  aforethought  and  that 
thing  used  rightly  by  you  might  turn  out  to  be  highly  creditable  to  you,  would  I 
therefore  be  entitled  to  praise  and  worthy  commendation?  By  no  means!  I  would 
be  censurable  for  the  wrong  attempted  and  all  credit  and  praise  would  be  due  you 
who  took  a  bad  matter  in  a  right  sense  and  made  good  use  of  it.  I  might  in  all  good 
faith  endeavor  to  do  you  a  kindness,  a  favor,  a  service,  for  your  highest  and  best 
interest,  you  might  receive  it  in  a  bad  spirit,  and  make  havoc  of  those  interests,  would 
I  be  responsible  for  the  havoc  and  injury  done?  No,  indeed!  You  would  be  to  blame 
for  making  a  bad  use  of  a  good  thing,  and  I  would  be  given  credit  for  an  honest  and 
faithful  effort  in  doing  good.  Each  would  be  rewarded  according  to  his  individual  merit, 
from  the  motive  back  of  the  effort  or  deed  done.  Just  so  it  is  with  environment,  which 
is  only  in  every  case  the  outward,  external  influence  creating  opportunity  for  choice, 
for  motive,  for  the  development  of  power  to  rise  above  or  create  a  better  condition 
than  that  in  which  we  find  ourselves.  Environment  is  but  the  stepping  stone,  either 
good  or  bad,  upon  which  to  rise.  Experience  shows  so  many  examples  of  those  in 
apparently  good  and  helpful  circumstances  and  favorable  environment  who  go  wrong, 
and  on  the  other  hand  so  many  in  the  most  unfavorable  environment  who  come  out 
triumphantly  in  useful,  clean  and  successful  lives,  that  we  cannot  doubt  the  ability 
of  hurnanity  to  rise  above  or  sink  below  environment.  Nor  can  we  fail  to  believe  that 
there  is  a  something  inherent  in  man  by  which  he  may  rise  above,  or  sink  below  his 


IMPORTANCE   OP'  SELF-MASTERY  39 

environment.  He  may  succeed  in  life  in  spite  of  surroundings,  however  vile  or  he 
may  fail  in  life,  no  matter  how  good  his  environment.  This  something  within  every  child, 
boy  or  girl,  and  adult,  man  or  woman,  is  the  Ego,  and  that  it  is  which  gives  character 
to  the  individual,  makes  him  an  intelligent,  reasonable  and  moral  beng.  The  Ego  is 
made  up  therefore  of  the  mental  and  moral  faculties  and  constitutes  the  soul  or  the 
real  human  being,  as  distinguished  from,  and  far  above  all  of  the  mere  animal  creations. 

To  illustrate  this  point.  You  remember  the  temptations  of  Christ  in  the  wilderness 
and  how  he  overcame  the  evil  one.  Why  would  it  have  been  wrong  for  Christ  to  accept 
any  of  the  three  propositions  of  Satan?  Christ  himself  gave  the  Scripture  texts  to 
refute  the  devil  most  effectively  and  nothing  can  be  added  for  they  show  conclusively 
that  it  lay  wholly  in  the  matter  of  who  controlled  the  will  of  Christ.  So  long  as  his  will 
was  submissive  to  that  of  God,  then  he  was  obedient  to  God,  and  to  have  surrendered 
or  submitted  to  Satan's  will  would  have  been  transferring  his  allegiance  and  obedience 
from  God  and  right,  to  that  of  Satan  and  wrong.  It  would  have  been  voluntarily  giving 
up  allegiance  to  God  and  choosing  allegiance  to  Satan.  It  would  have  been  bowing 
down  the  will  to  Satan  instead  of  God.  It  would  have  been  taking  Satan  as  master 
instead  of  God.  It  would  have  been  doing  just  what  Adam  and  Eve  did  in  Eden,  and  it 
was  giving  their  wills  into  Satan's  control  and  keeping  rather  than  to  God,  that  constituted 
the  Fall  of  Man,  and  it  is  just  that  which  makes  and  keeps  every  man  a  sinner,  and  it 
is  getting  the  Will  back  into  submission  to  and  harmony  with  God's  Will  that  puts  a  man 
right. 

Is  it  right  and  proper  for  all  people  to  strive  for  happiness,  contentment  and 
satisfied  desires?  I  answer  yes,  only  upon  one  condition;  and  that  is,  that  the  means 
need  and  the  end  achieved  must  not  perforce  require  an  injury  or  injustice  done  to 
ourselves  or  to  any  one  else.  To  illustrate.  If  I  cannot  be  happy  without  seeing  or 
having  some  one  else  in  torment,  then  that  is  not  a  right  kind  of  happiness.  If  my 
desire  can  only  be  satisfied  in  the  orgies  of  a  drunken  revel  with  bacchanalian  companions, 
then  it  is  not  a  right  desire  and  should  not  be  gratified.  To  put  the  matter  in  explicit 
terms:  No  desire  is  right  in  any  intelligent  being  which  would  work  injury  to  any  other 
intelligent  being.  No  happiness  is  real,  genuine  and  abiding  which  has  a  present  or 
future  bad  effect  upon  the  individual  or  upon  another.  A  happiness  or  desire  can  only 
be  right  and  worthy  of  gratification  when  it  works  no  harm  or  injury  to  another,  and 
when  every  other  person  might  justly  under  like  circumstances  have  the  same  happiness 
and  like  desire  without  present  or  future  injury  to  one's  self  or  to  another. 

Then  we  must  train,  educate  and  induce  all  people  to  have  right  and  worthy  desires 
as  a  means  of  abiding  happiness  before  we  can  hope  to  devise  ways  and  means  to 
satisfy  them.  Let  all  once  have  right  and  worthy  desires,  and  the  battle  is  much  more 
than  half  won,  for  we  can  much  more  easily  meet  the  demand,  when  that  demand  is 
right  and  based  upon  the  scientific  moral  principle  inherent  in  the  eternal  welfare  of  the 
race.  If  old  and  young  can  all  be  once  convinced  that  nothing  can  give  permanent 
peace,  contentment  and  happiness  to  them  which  works  injury,  harm  or  injustice  to  them, 
or  any  one  else,  then  it  will  be  more  easy  to  get  them,  to  desire  and  strive  after  such 
things  as  are  best  and  right,  for  the  real  desire  of  all  is  happiness;  and  it  is  only  because 
they  have  been  erroneously  taught  that  these  false  and  evil, things  will  give  them 
happiness  that  they  seek  so  strenuously  for  them  and  endeavor  both  by  fair  means  and 
foul,  good  devices  and  evil  means  to  attain  them.  People  have  not  yet  learned  that 
they  are  chasing  an  ignis  fatuis,  a  myth,  an  impossibility,  when  they  seek  for  happiness 
in  so  false  and  improper  manner  as  getting  it  at  the  expense  or  injury  of  some  other 
human  being  who  is  equally  entitled  to  happiness  with  themselves.  And  it  is  just  as 
true  in  morals  as  in  any  other  realm  of  science  that  the  sum  of  all  the  parts  equals  the 
whole,  and  you  cannot  have  the  whole  until  all  the  parts  (no  matter  how  small  any  one 
part  may  be)  are  brought  together.  To  illustrate,  take  an  apple  and  divide  one-half 
of  it  into  four  equal  parts,  and  the  other  into  thirty-two  equal  parts.  Now  the  apple 
as  a  whole  has  been  separated  into  thirty-six  unequal  parts,  and  it  can  never  be  a  unit 
or  a  whole  apple  again  until  all  of  those  parts  are  brought  together  and  not  even  one 
of  the  smallest  pieces  can  be  left  out.  So  with  happiness  in  the  entire  human  race. 
It  is  when  complete,  a  perfect  unit,  and  though  composed  of  many  unequal  parts,  yet 
each  part  or  individual  no  matter  how  small  his  part  may  be,  is  an  essential  in  the 
whole,  and  is  perfect  and  complete  as  an  integral  part  of  the  whole;    but  cannot  by 


40  EgUITAXIA,   OK   TIIK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

reason  of  his  very  nature  fit  into  or  become  a  part  of  this  perfect  or  completed  whole 
while  at  conflict  or  at  variance  with  another  part  which  has  equal  rights  and  a  place  in 
the  whole  as  well  as  himself.  Hence  while  doing  a  wrong  or  injury  to  another  who  has 
right  to  a  place  here,  he  cannot  himself  form  part  of  that  perfect  harmonious  and 
complete  whole. 

Hence  we  say,  no  happiness  is  perfect,  complete  and  therefore  abiding  which  is 
gained  by  injustice,  or  wrong  done  to  ourselves  or  another.  The  Equitanians  seem  to 
have  acted  upon  these  principles  in  a  very  practical  way. 

It  is  very  interesting  to  see  how  Equitania  has  dealt  with  tramps,  beggars  and  other 
dependant   idlers. 

These  are  an  unfortunate  and  inferior  class  of  people  to  be  pitied  and  dealt  with 
fairly,  justly  and  rationally.  They  come  from  homes  where  the  training  and  education 
has  been  poor  and  inadequate  many  times,  hence  while  they  are  not  to  be  excused  and 
petted,  yet  they  are  not  to  be  dealt  with  too  harshly.  The  usual  custom  in  the  United 
States  of  simply  giving  them  a  little  food  and  clothing  as  they  go  about  from  door  to 
door,  or  driving  them  from  the  city  or  town  in  which  they  may  be  found,  is  both 
inhuman  and  irrational;  because  it  neither  gives  them  what  is  best  for  them  nor  does 
by  them  the  best  thing  for  the  community.  They  have  certain  powers  and  abilities,  even 
if  of  an  inferior  grade,  which  may  be  utilized  by  the  community  to  its  own  higher 
interests  and  they  may  themselves  be  made  a  better  type  of  humanity.  Let  them  be 
put  to  some  useful  employment,  by  the  person  whose  duty  it  is,  in  each  community 
until  such  time  as  more  suitable  work  can  be  found  for  him  or  her  in  another  locality 
to  which  he  may  be  sent  when  information  has  been  received  from  the  employment 
officer  of  that  place,  that  such  dependent  can  be  satisfactorily  accommodated  in  his 
vicinity.  By  having  these  employment  officers  stationed  in  all  parts  of  the  land  they 
can  easily  keep  such  records  and  such  knowledge  of  all  dependents,  as  that  the  demand 
and  supply  for  work  and  employment  of  all  kinds  may  be  easily  adjusted,  then  there  will 
not  long  be  an  over-plus  or  superabundance  in  one  locality  and  a  dearth  or  lack  of 
labor  in  another. 

There  is  work  enough  to  be  done  that  all  may  have  some  reasonable  occupation, 
if  the  workers  are  wisely  distributed;  and  then  too  there  are  workers  enough  if  they 
be  fairly  apportioned  to  the  wide  field  of  usefulness,  that  none  be  over-worked  and  all  may 
have  food,  clothing  and  shelter  with  the  other  real  needs  of  life  for  such  service  as 
they  are  able  to  perform,  and  there  will  then  be  an  abundance  left  over  to  supply  those 
who  are  rightly  real  objects  of  charity.  On  our  present  basis  in  civilized  lands  the 
difficulty  simply  is,  that  the  demand  and  supply,  the  work  to  be  done  and  the  workers 
to  do  it  are  not  properly  distributed,  rightly  apportioned,  and  properly  paid. 

In  this  "Land  of  Equity,"  these  difficulties  are  overcome  as  hereafter  suggested. 
So  that  while  the  state  must  needs  deal  with  the  tramps,  beggars  and  idlers  it  does  not 
treat  them  as  criminals  until  they  commit  some  punishable  act,  but  it  treats  them  as 
dependents,  and  by  suitable  preventive  measures,  tries  to  keep  them  out  of  the  criminal 
class  towards  which  of  themselves  they  voluntarily  drift.  In  the  present  state  of 
civilization  the  government  in  the  United  Slates  almost  nowhere  makes  suitable  provision 
for  any  of  its  citizens  to  help  them  against  becoming  criminals  and  dependents,  or  gives 
adequate  preventive  measures  against  the  origin  and  development  of  these  undesirable 
members  of  society.  It  does  make  large  provision  to  arrest,  convict  and  punish  the 
offender;  but  little  or  none  to  prevent  the  offense.  It  has  an  elaborate,  intricate  and 
expensive  system  of  courts,  lawyers,  sheriffs,  constables,  policemen,  detectives  and 
soldiers  to  arrest,  try,  convict,  and  punish  the  criminal,  and  many  hands  are  outstretched 
to  aid  the  government  in  its  endeavor  to  find  and  punish  the  guilty  parties  but  where 
are  the  hands  and  other  agencies  of  the  government  to  assist  the  individual  in 
his  struggle  not  to  become  a  dependent  or  a  criminal? 

It  is  true  in  the  organization  and  conduct  of  government,  as  in  many  other  things, 
"An  ounce  of  prevention  is  worth  a  pound  of  cure,"  and  the  government  is  not  considering 
its  own  best  and  highest  interests  unless  it  makes  and  uses  every  possible  preventive 
measure  rightly  within  its  reach,  to  guard  every  member  of  society  from  becoming  a 
burden  upon  the  state  either  as  a  dependent  or  as  a  criminal. 

In  this  new  land,  therefore,  they  have  established  schools,  colleges  and  universities, 
and  appointed  officers  and  enacted  laws  primarily  to  aid  and  keep  the  subjects  from 


WORK  OF  OVERSEERS  41 

becoming  dependents  or  criminals,  and  only  secondarily  to  find  and  punish  them  when 
they  become  offenders  or  care  for  them  when  they  become  dependents. 

Schools,  colleges  and  universities  are  established  within  the  reach  of  all  and  attend- 
ance at  school  is  obligatory  from  eight  years  of  age  to  sixteen,  or  until  the  High  School 
diploma  has  been  secured,  and  in  this  compulsory  term  such  instruction  as  will  adequately 
fit  one  for  all  the  ordinary  duties  of  life  is  provided.  The  instruction  is  intensely  practical, 
so  that  upon  it  as  a  foundation  one  may  engage  successfully  in  the  ordinary  pursuits  of 
life,  or  build  an  education  for  special  vocations  or  professions  at  the  technical  schools, 
or  in  the  colleges  and  universities.  All  are  taught  early  about  themselves,  whence  they 
came,  how  they  are  constructed,  what  their  purpose  and  object  in  life,  and  what  their 
destiny.  Their  education  is  built  upon  these  fundamental  thmgs  and  every  one  trained 
and  fitted  for  those  duties  in  life  to  which  he  may  be  adapted. 

Take  as  illustration  this  case,  which  I  personally  knew  in  the  United  States.  Fannie 
R.  aged  seventeen  years,  the  oldest  of  seven  children,  father  in  poor  health,  only  able  to 
do  light  work,  and  not  well  enough  to  work  steadily,  but  must  have  a  good  many  days 
off  and  mother  in  fair  health,  but  needed  in  the  home  to  look  after  the  family,  so  that 
the  earnmg  of  the  real  necessities  of  life  seemed  to  depend  at  least  in  part  upon  what  the 
daughter  can  earn.  Therefore  she  was  taken  out  of  school  before  she  had  passed  the 
eighth  grade,  and  put  to  work  in  a  store  earning  $4.50,  or  at  times  $5.00  a  week.  And 
now  at  this  age,  a  bright,  active  and  pretty  girl  is  tied  down  to  a  position  in  the  store 
at  a  mere  pittance  because  she  feels  the  duty  of  helping  to  support  the  family.  And 
yet  she  said  to  me,  "Oh  how  I  would  like  to  get  an  education!"  "Or  even  if  I  could  go 
to  business  college  and  learn  stenography  and  typewriting  so  that  I  could  earn  more, 
but  papa  is  so  anxious  for  brother  to  go  to  school  and  get  a  good  education  for  you 
know,"  said  she,  "how  much  more  important  it  is  for  a  boy  to  have  a  good  education, 
and  it  is  better  for  me  to  work  and  help  keep  the  family  so  that  he  may  go  to  school 
and  learn,  than  for  him  to  quit  school  and  work." 

Here  in  the  language,  tone  and  manner  of  this  charming  young  lady  was  no  offer  of 
complaint,  nor  resentment,  or  feeling  that  she  was  unjustly  treated,  or  that  she  was  in 
any  way  being  imposed  upon.  She  took  it  as  a  good  omen  rather  that  she  was  fortunate 
in  being  able  to  help  thus  much  her  dear  papa,  and  mamma  and  the  children.  A  sweet 
and  gentle  submission  to  what  seemed  to  her  only  an  unfortunate  condition  in  which  she 
was  placed  which  there  was  no  possibility  of  overcoming  as  nobody  was  to  blame 
and  she  must  cheerfully  submit  to  the  inevitable,  although  she  could  not  help  longing  for 
an  education. 

A  wisely  planned  government  should,  as  does  Equitania,  make  it  possible  for  a  girl 
like  this  to  get  the  coveted  education  for  its  own  sake,  if  not  directly  for  her  sake.  It 
is  a  part  of  the  Overseers'  or  Employment  Officers'  work  in  each  district  to  look  out 
for  such  cases  and  arrange  for  the  help  needed  in  a  case  like  this.  The  self-sacrificing 
spirit  of  this  girl,  her  willingness  to  serve,  shows  her  worth  and  value  to  the  community, 
and  any  reasonable  means  society  can  use  to  preserve  and  enhance  her  value  should 
be  employed. 

When  I  read  that  in  mid-winter  season  there  are  150,000  men  in  Chicago,  and 
500,000  in  New  York  who  are  out  of  work  and  unable  to  find  employment,  and  when 
I  am  assurred  of  the  widespread  suffering  throughout  the  country  on  this  account,  and 
that  these  figures  are  but  fair  indications  of  what  obtains  all  over  this  rich  and  wonder- 
fully productive  country,  I  cannot  but  reflect  upon  the  vast  difference  here  and  in 
Equitania  where  these  conditions  are  precluded  by  wise  preventive  measures. 

Robert — Why  is  it  so  many  are  unable  to  find  employment  who  have  nothing  laid 
up  for  such  a  contingency? 

Sylvester — Yes,  I  would  like  to  know  that,  and  how  do  the  cities  in  Equitania 
meet  this  question? 

Horace — In  regard  to  the  first  question  it  can  be  answered  directly  by  saying  that 
they  are  persons  who  are. not  very  provident,  not  good  managers,  not  good  financiers, 
not  very  industrious,  not  quite  dependable,  or  have  not  had  a  fair  chance  and  possibly 
some  have  not  been  paid  a  truly  living  wage  by  their  former  employers.  Now,  one  or 
more  of  these  conditions  may  have  entered  into  the  cause  of  this  unfortunate,  deplorable 
and  sad  state  of  affairs.  Drinking,  gambling,  smoking,  idleness,  laziness,  incompetency, 
and  general  worthlessness  as  well  as  lack  of  a  worthy  ambition  enter  into  the  case  very 


42  KgUlTAXlA,    OK   TIIK    LAND   OF    EQUITY 

many  times,  but  all  of  these  are  fairly  included  in  the  list  of  causes  above  given.  It  is 
all  very  well  in  time  of  great  distress,  in  an  emergency  for  the  public  charities  and  even 
the  city  or  government  to  take  special  pains  to  meet  the  need  temporarily,  by  large 
donations  and  extraordinary  measures;  but  how  much  better  to  devise  ways  and  means 
to  avoid,  to  prevent,  this  spasmodic  effort  which  comes  to  meet  a  condition  which  might 
have  been  averted,  which  ought  to  have  been  provided  against.  Is  it  a  wise  and  judicious 
thing,  is  it  doing  the  best  thing,  nay,  is  it  doing  the  right  thing  by  these  our  fellow  crea- 
tures to  do  nothing  for  them  until  they  are  in  dire  distress?  Are  we  showing  them  the 
true  humantarian  spirit  (to  say  nothing  of  love)  when  we  give  them  no  kindly  thought, 
nor  offer  them  any  of  the  sympathetic  help  which  could  easily  have  kept  them  from  this 
suffering  and  this  humiliating  dependence? 

If  we  are  in  any  manner  bound,  (and  I  grant  that  we  are)  to  aid  these  distressed 
ones  when  hunger  gnaws,  cold  bites  and  storm  shivers  the  needy,  how  much  more  are  we 
constrained  to  preserve  their  honor,  manhood  and  dignity,  by  giving  just  that  wise  and 
kindly  help  needed  before  want  pinches  and  total  dependence  degrades? 

This  brings  us  to  the  second  question,  what  does  the  city  or  government  in  Equitania 
do  in  the  prevention  of  these  deplorable  cases?  It  is  not  assumed  that  all  poverty  can 
be  overcome,  that  all  people  may  be  made  thrifty  nor  that  all  suffering  immediately 
ceases  where  the  plan  now  adopted  is  reasonably  well  carried  into  effect.  But  this  is  a 
practical  method.  It  minimizes  the  suffering,  enables  those  able  bodied  and  willing,  to 
care  for  themselves,  encourages  thrift,  and  is  therefore  what  can  be  done,  and  ought  to 
be  done  in  the  interests  of  all  the  people. 

Every  Province  is  divided  into  as  many  sections  as  may  be  necessary,  and  Super- 
visors or  Overseers  are  appointed  for  the  Sections  whose  duties  are  to  keep  a  careful 
and  complete  record  of  all  persons  in  his  Section,  so  that  he  may  know  their  conditions 
and  needs.  He  must  know  when  new  people  come  into  his  Section  and  when  tliey 
move  out.  He  must  know  their  occupation,  their  exact  residence  and  their  surroundings. 
The  Overseers  of  each  Province  elect  one  of  their  number  as  chief  to  whom  the  others 
must  report,  and  he  must  have  complete  records  in  his  office.  The  chairmen  of  the 
several  Provinces  meet  once  a  year  at  the  District  Capital  for  conference,  and  select  a 
suitable  man  as  District  Overseer,  who  has  jurisdiction  over  the  several  Provinces  of  the 
District,  and  to  him  a  summary  of  all  reports  are  sent.  Having  thus  all  Provinces  prop- 
erly organized  and  the  men,  women  and  children  properly  tabulated  from  the  remotest 
corner  of  the  District  to  the  darkest  nook  in  the  great  city,  it  is  easy  then  to  know  the 
exact  physical,  mental,  financial  and  civil  condition  of  all  the  residents  in  the  District. 
It  would  not  be  essential  to  know  the  exact  income  of  any  over  $1,000.00  per  annum, 
for  presumably  all  such  could  care  for  themselves  and  their  dependents.  But  as  soon 
as  there  appeared  evidence  of  want  or  seemed  to  be  need  in  any  home,  then  inquiry 
could  be  made  and  all  material  facts  secured,  no  matter  what  the  income  yearly. 

These  Overseers  are  men  who  can  wisely  advise,  direct  and  encourage  thrift  and 
means  of  getting  ahead.  They  make  reports  to  the  chief  in  each  Province,  and  they 
have  power  to  compel  (if  necessary)  obedience  to  reasonable  economic  and  industrial 
rules  for  the  guidance  of  their  dependents.  That  is  to  say  every  man  is  given  perfect 
freedom  and  independence  in  the  choice  of  work  or  occupation  so  long  as  he  faithfully 
meets  his  obligations  and  cares  for  those  rightly  depending  upon  him.  He  is  also  allowed 
to  spend  his  earnings  as  he  pleases  so  long  as  he  fulfills  his  obligations;  but  when  he 
becomes  derelict  in  these  and  does  not  perform  his  duties  and  meet  his  obligations,  then 
the  advice,  sympathy,  help  and  coercion  (if  need  be)  of  the  chief  Overseer,  is  to  be 
used  to  enable  him  to  be  a  man.  By  careful  records  in  each  Province  it  is  easy  to  learn 
what  kind  of  labor,  male  or  female  is  in  demand,  and  in  what  part  of  the  city  or  District, 
and  also  to  find  where  the  surplus  and  unemployed  labor  is  located,  so  that  it  can  be 
transferred  to  the  place  where  it  is  needed. 

In  addition  to  this  it  is  necessary  for  the  District,  Province  and  City  to  have  some 
public  work  at  which  it  can  employ  men  at  living  wages  when  no  other  avenue  is  open 
to  some  of  its  subjects,  who  may  temporarily  be  unemployed. 

This  system  stimulates  men  and  women  to  do  their  best,  lest  they  should  become 
dependents  and  be  forced  to  work  for  the  District  in  some  place  or  employment  not 
wholly  congenial.  It  also  enables  people  who  are  honest,  hard  working  and  yet  not 
mentally  very  competent,   to   avail   themselves   of   the   Overseers'   good  offices   and   get 


PRACTICAL  HELPFULNESS  43 

just  the  amount  of  help  required  to  tide  them  over  hard  places  so  they  need  not  come 
into  the  totally  dependent  class.  They  are  often  wisely  helped  or  directed  in  educating 
their  children,  or  getting  them  into  good  positions  when  ihcy  are  ready  for  them.  It 
in  this  manner  helps  in  improving  the  morals  of  the  children  and  young  people.  The 
Overseer  thus  not  only  knows  and  sees  about  the  homes  in  which  his  people  live,  but 
knows  about  their  places  of  labor  and  amusement.  He  in  a  measure  is  a  good  health 
officer,  and  sees  that  the  homes,  the  shops,  the  stores,  factories,  streets,  alleys,  parks, 
music  halls,  etc.,  are  kept  sanitary,  and  there  is  a  commendable  rivalry  between  them 
for  doing  valiant  service  in  their  respective  Sections.  Suitable  honors  are  conferred  upon 
those  who  attain  a  certain  standard  of  efficiency.  Thus,  too,  data  are  accumulated  by 
which  to  ascertain  the  actual  needs  for  a  man  to  properly  maintain  himself  in  the  civil 
condition  to  which  he  belongs,  the  like  needs  for  a  family  of  one  or  more  children  and 
thus  learn  what  a  living  wage  is  for  the  different  kinds  of  labor,  whether  male  or  female, 
so  that  the  individual  may  have  adequate  and  proper  food,  clothing,  shelter,  opportunities 
for  amusement,  entertainment,  education,  and  recreation  without  working  on  an  average 
more  than  eight  hours  out  of  twenty-four,  and  also  with  the  privilege,  which  is  his 
right,  of  one  day  in  seven  for  worship,  meditation,  religious  study  and  works  of  mercy 
and  charity.     Every  one  also  has  certain  time  in  holidays  for  rest  and  recreation. 

Now  when  these  data  are  brought  together  and  the  matters  in  evidence  discussed 
in  the  monthly  meetings  of  the  District  Overseers,  and  when  further  discussed  by  the 
Chiefs  in  their  quarterly  and  annual  meetings,  the  social  and  industrial  conditions 
become  so  well  understood  that  it  is  not  difficult  to  see  where  many  of  the  weak  places 
are  which  can  be  remedied  by  publicity  or  legislation,  or  both,  so  that  equity  is  done 
to  the  common  people  and  no  injustice  comes  to  corporations,  and  thus  both  capital  and 
labor  are  benefitted  and  greater  peace  and  happiness  come  to  both. 

Thus  the  Oevrseers  become  helpful  in  promoting  the  health,  the  intelligence,  the 
morals,  the  obedience  to  law,  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  members  of  their  respective 
Sections,  whether  rich  or  poor.  In  the  United  States  many  of  the  places  where  human 
beings  are  now  huddled  together  in  what  they  must  needs  call  a  home  for  lack  of  a 
better  place,  would  be  condemned  as  nuisances  and  inimical  to  health,  morals,  and 
therefore  to  the  public  welfare. 

No  city  of  even  five  thousand  people  in  the  United  States,  but  has  some  of  these 
degrading  and  injurious  places  which  should  be  eradicated  and  the  inhabitants  helped 
to  better  conditions  and  surroundings  for  their  own  sake  and  for  the  public  good.  Of 
course  the  larger  the  city,  the  more  dense  the  population,  the  more  of  these  places 
there  are,  and  the  more  people  affected  by  them.  Overcrowding,  lack  of  air,  light,  and 
sunshine  are  important  factors  in  crime,  vice,  immorality,  disease  and  death  in  our 
American  cities,  which  can  and  ought  to  be  overcome  by  some  adequate  plan ;  and  the 
one  used,  as  above  suggested,  would  set  in  motion  the  necessary  wheels  of  progress. 
More,  a  careful  tabulation  of  all  and  the  record  kept  daily  up  to  date  help  to  keep  the 
lawless,  the  thieves,  murderers,  and  all  thugs  either  out  of  the  city,  or  under  very  close 
and   wise   surveilance. 

The  city,  town  and  county  has  a  right,  and  ought  to  know  who  and  what  kind  of 
people  its  subjects  and  even  its  transient  guests  are,  as  a  matter  of  self-protection,  so 
that  no  honorable  citizen  or  visitor  could  rightly  object  to  the  fullest  and  most  exact 
report,  while  all  others  are  the  more  urgently  needed  for  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the 
community.  Therefore  as  a  preventive  measure  against  the  commission  of  crime  and 
the  breeding  of  vice  and  criminals  the  Overseers  are  most  helpful  adjuncts,  as  it  proves 
in   Equitania. 

The  "white  slave"  traffic  which  is  confessedly  growing  more  and  more  in  all  of 
our  American  cities  would  thus  be  brought  more  easily  under  control,  if  a  carefully 
tabulated  system  of  this  kind  were  adopted,  and  reasonably  intelligent  and  faithful 
Overseers  were  in  charge  of  every  section.  Preventable  suffering,  ignorance,  vice,  crime, 
and  immorality  can  be  successfully  abolished  in  no  other  way  from  a  human  standpoint 
than  by  adequately  and  efficiently  organizing  forces  to  carry  out  a  system  whereby  every 
person  in  the  community  is  fully  known  to  the  government.  That  is  to  say,  the  forces 
in  the  community  which  are  responsible  to  all  the  people  for  the  peace  and  safety  of 
all,  must  know  in  a  detailed  manner  the  name,  antecedents,  business  and  condition 
of  every  citizen,  subject,  guest  or  visitor  within  the  bounds  of  their  jurisdiction. 


44  EgUITAXIA,   OK   THP:    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

An  accurate,  and  complete  report  for  every  City.  Province,  and  District,  kept  up  to 
date  each  day,  gives  a  working  basis  of  incalcuable  value  for  controlling  the  individual 
and  combined  forces  of  evil  in  any  community,  or  in  the  country.  These  Overseers  are 
officers  of  the  state  and  all  are  working  together  for  a  common  end  in  the  city,  province, 
district,  and  nation.  Each  is  anxious  to  make  his  section  a  model  of  peace,  safety, 
thrift,  and  happiness,  but  it  is  in  co-operation  with  others  and  not  at  the  expense  or  to 
the  detriment  of  others.  That  is  to  say,  each  is  in  an  important  sense  responsible  for  all 
the  residents  of  his  section,  and  he  is  not  allowed  to  turn  any  of  them  over  to  some 
other  Section,  without  making  a  proper  accounting  therefor;  and  if  it  be  a  dependent 
in  his  section  he  is  not  allowed  to  send  him  to  some  other,  without  having  first  made  the 
necessary  arrangements  with  the  new  Section,  to  which  said  dependent  is  going.  This 
always  prevents  hardships  and  injustice,  while  at  the  same  time  it  economizes  funds 
and  energies,  which  would  otherwise  be  dissipated.  This  does  away  with  one  Section, 
Province  or  District  foolishly  and  unjustly  shipping  its  cripples,  defectives  and  dependents 
to  another.  This  does  away  with  the  beggars  upon  the  streets,  the  decrepit,  deformed 
and  unsightly  specimens  of  humanity  haunting  the  highways,  streets  and  public  places, 
asking  alms  both  worthily  and  by  fraud;  for  all  such  are  properly  looked  after  by  the 
Overseer  in  the  Section  to  which  they  by  right  belong.  They  are  put  to  such  useful 
employments  as  they  are  best  fitted  for,  and  their  needs  are  adequately  supplied. 

These  Overseers  are  primarily  officers  of  prevention,  but  secondarily  of  relief  and 
punishment. 

Ihe  question  of  punishment  for  violation  of  law  and  the  development  of  respect 
for  law  is  very  nicely  handled  in  Equitania.  They  seem  to  go  upon  the  theory  that  laws 
should  not  be  too  numerous.  They  must  be  plain,  easily  understood  and  clearly  equitable 
and  just.  They  must  pertain  strictly  to  civil  life.  The  punishment  must  be  adequate 
to  the  crime  committed  and  it  must  be  promptly  and  certainly  executed  as  the  best  cure 
and  preventive  for  crime,  and  the  most  efficient  means  of  eduacting  the  young  as  to  the 
real  guilt  of  such  acts. 

Let  us  now  take  some  of  the  crimes  and  offenses,  and  discuss  their  penalties  in 
order  one  after  another,  according  to  their  merits. 

The  Betrayer  of  Public  Trust.  What  do  they  do  with  him?  Make  him  ineligible 
to  vote  or  hold  office,  and  keep  in  servitude  until  all  damage  has  been  fully  repaired. 
Reinstate  to  full  citizenship  afterwards  only  for  works  of  merit  and  honor  performed. 

Now  take  the  Ten  Commandments  of  the  Old  Testament,  what  do  they  do  with  the 
offenders  against  these? 

Well,  the  first  four  and  the  last  have  to  do  only  with  each  man's  personal  account- 
ability to  Jehovah,  and  we  are  neither  authorized  to  enact  nor  enforce  them  in  the  civil 
state,   for  two  very  good  reasons. 

1 .  We  have  no  right  to  try  to  compel  any  man  to  observe  them,  since  it  is 
each  man's  privilege  to  worship  whatever  God  he  may  choose. 

2.  They  are  obeyed  or  broken  in  spirit,  and  no  human  being  can  tell  when 
another  person  obeys  or  breaks  them.  Hence  the  folly  of  attempting  their  enforce- 
ment by  fallible  beings,  who  are  also  finite. 

We  do  well  to  teach  them  to  all  men  as  their  duty  and  obligation  to  Jehovah,  and 
so  far  as  possible  persuade  men  to  choose  a  voluntary  and  intelligent  obedience  to  them, 
since  this  will  bring  them  into  harmony  with  the  Divine  Will,  and  enable  them  to  enjoy 
the  highest  possible  felicity  of  which  human  beings  are  capable. 

The  enforcement  of  Divine  Laws,  and  the  punishment  of  their  violation  which  is 
sin,  is  not  now,  and  never  has  been  (except  for  a  time  under  the  Israelitish  rule)  com- 
mitted to  men.  Man  is  not  capable  (except  under  special  Divine  inspiration  and  leader- 
ship as  was  Samuel)  of  making,  interpreting  and  executing  laws  for  Jehovah,  and  you 
will  search  the  Scriptures  in  vain  for  any  such  authority.  And  if  we  review  both  sacred 
and  profane  history  we  will  find  that  the  corruption  of  the  church  and  the  tyranny  of 
rulers  in  attempting  to  govern  men's  consciences  by  force  and  compel  their  allegiance 
to  one  form  of  worship  or  another,  and  their  assuming  dictatorial  authority  as  to  what 
God  we  must  adore,  and  how  He  must  be  worshipped,  has  been  the  result  of  such  false 
doctrine,  and  has  produced  untold  wars,  bloodshed  and  misery. 

So  that  we  ought  by  this  time  in  the  progress  of  civilization  to  be  fully  alive  to 


THE   LAW  OF   LOVE  45 

the  importance  of  personal  liberty,  and  the  accountability  of  each  individual  to  the 
Almighty.  Every  man  ought  to  be  a  believer  in  and  a  willing  subject  of  Jehovah,  but 
no  man  has  yet  any  command  or  authority  to  force  another  into  such  obedience.  When 
any  man  has  voluntarily  chosen  this  service  it  is  his  privilege,  yea,  a  duty,  and  often  a 
pleasure  to  persuade  others  to  choose  the  same  obedience,  and  become  worshippers  of 
Jehovah,  and  observers  of  His  laws.  Herein  consists  the  highest  service  of  any  man  to 
his  fellows.  There  is  no  place  for  physical  force  in  this  splendid  work,  only  the  com- 
pulsion of  love  which  can  rightly  win  to  true  worship  and  Christian  discipleship. 

Now  proceedmg  to  consider  the  other  five  commandments  of  the  Decalogue  which 
pertain  to  man's  relations  and  duties  to  his  fellow  men;  these  require  obedience  for 
the  good  of  men  while  living  upon  earth  in  the  state  of  human  society,  and  their  violation 
brings  discord  among  men  and  is  injurious  to  society.  You  may  recall  the  interpretation 
which  Christ  himself  put  upon  these  two  phases  of  the  ten  comm.andments,  when  the 
lawyer  asked  Him,  "Master,  which  is  the  great  commandment  of  the  law?"  to  which 
Jesus  responded,  "The  first  and  great  commandment  is.  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord,  thy 
God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  mind,  and  with  all  thy  soul.  This  is  the  first 
and  great  commandment,  and  the  second  is  like  unto  it,  namely.  Thou  shalt  love  thy 
neighbor  as  thyself.  On  these  two  commandments  hang  all  the  law  and  the  prophets." 
That  is,  the  first  four  call  for  love  supreme  to  God,  and  a  practical  application  of  how 
to  show  it; while  the  last  six  call  for  love  to  man  and  its  practical  demonstration  in  daily  life. 
So  that  any  failure  to  discharge  these  two  obligations  of  man  toward  God  and  man  is  sin 
and  will  be  dealt  with  by  the  Almighty  directly,  and  each  human  being  is  and  will  be  held 
to  account  before  that  perfect  and  infinite  tribunal  where  Justice  shall  be  done,  and  yet 
where  it  may  rightly  be  tempered  with  mercy.  So  that  v/hen  we  enact  and  enforce  laws 
in  harmony  or  identical  with  the  five  of  the  Decalogue,  it  is  not  because  we  expect  or 
hope  to  punish  their  violations  as  sins  against  God,  which  we  have  no  authority  to  do, 
and  which  we  could  not  do  if  we  would.  Note  to  illustrate  this,  Christ's  interpretation 
from  a  religious  standpoint  of  the  seventh  commandment,  "Thou  shalt  not  commit 
adultery."  "Verily  I  say  unto  you,  whosoever  looketh  on  a  woman  to  lust  after  her 
hath  committed  adultery  with  her  already  in  his  heart."  Who  is  there  but  God  alone 
can  punish  this  sin?  And  so  with  the  spiritual,  or  religious  or  Divine  interpretation  of 
all  these  ten  commandments.  Man  as  man  has  to  do  only  with  their  relation  to  him  as 
a  member  of  the  civil  state,  human  society,  so  far  as  enforcing  their  observance  is  con- 
cerned; it  is  the  mere  outward,  external  conformity  to  them  that  he  may  and  ought  to 
enforce,  and  compel  compliance  therewith.  If  once  he  has  come  into  a  conscious  accept- 
ance of  their  spiritual  truth  and  is  himself  endeavoring  to  obey  them  from  this  point  of  view, 
he  may,  yea  he  ought  to  go  further  and  persuade  his  fellowmen  to  see  the  beauty  of 
this  higher  and  better  relationship  and  seek  with  all  his  God-given  powers  of  mind  and 
soul  to  get  his  fellowmen  to  see  this  truth  and  choose  it  for  their  own  daily  course  of 
action.  Here  again  he  may  use  the  constraining  and  compelling  power  of  love,  but 
not  any  of  the  physical  force  which  belongs  wholly  to  the  lower  animal  and  material 
nature. 

Taking  now  the  fifth  of  these  ten  commandments  in  order  we  may  wisely  and 
properly  enact  and  enforce  by  any  means  right  and  needful  laws  in  harmony  with  them. 
This  would  make  the  third  of  our  series  by  taking  the  fifth  of  the  ten. 

Fifth — "Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon  the 
land  which  the  Lord,  thy  God  giveth  thee."  Now  this  is  the  first  commandment  relating 
to  man's  duties  to  his  fellowmen,  and  teaches  first  filial  duty,  and  is  fundamental  to  the 
home  and  vital  to  society  and  the  state.  If  there  were  no  hereafter,  no  such  thing  as 
religion,  and  this  life  were  all,  that  command  would  be  a  wise  one  to  enact  and  enforce. 
The  state  should  take  an  interest  in  educating  and  training  the  children  and  all  of  its 
citizens  in  the  social,  economic,  humanitarian  and  civil  advantages  growing  out  of  a 
careful  and  universal  observance  of  this  law. 

The  state  for  its  own  sake,  to  help  in  establishing  respect  for  authority,  may  very 
well  require  obedience  in  outward  form  to  this  wise  injunction,  for  unless  the  child  is 
early  taught  to  obey  and  treat  with  due  respect  its  parents,  who  are  over  it  in  rightful 
authority  by  nature,  it  cannot  easily  be  trained  later  to  be  obedient  or  respectful  to 
the  civil  authority.  And  the  adult  who  has  no  proper  regard  for  rightly  constituted 
government  under  which  he  lives,  is  a  constant  source  of  discord  and  a  menace  to  society. 


M\  EQUITAXIA.   OR   TilK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

So  that  the  Interest  of  the  state  demands  that  children  be  taught  from  the  beginning, 
obedience  to  authority,  and  respect  for  government.  The  penahy  for  disobedience  here 
may  justly  be  fixed  at  physical  punishment  by  the  whipping  master  appointed  by  the 
state,  curtailment  of  certain  liberties,  privileges  and  honors,  which  the  state  confers 
upon  obedient  children  and  those  who  show  proper  honor  and  respect  for  parents. 

4.  "Thou  shall  not  kill."  This  command  they  justly  enforce  by  a  penalty  of  depriving 
the  offender  of  his  life,  and  in  suitable  cases  tempering  with  mercy  because  of  mitigating 
circumstances  a  sentence  of  imprisonment  and  servitude. 

A  man's  life  is  sacred  and  to  protect  this  life  and  make  it  more  secure,  is  one  of  the 
reasons  why  men  join  together  in  commonwealths.  Hence  laws  for  the  protection  of  life 
are  imperatively  demanded.  The  prevention  of  accidents  which  may  cause  loss  of  life 
is  proper  and  legitmate  legislation.  The  prevention  of  disease  which  may  cause  death 
is  also  legislation  well  within  the  province  of  government.  But  more,  shall  not  there  be 
laws  enacted  and  executed  which  shall  prevent  men,  and  women  committing 
suicide?  For  lack  of  work,  poverty,  chronic  maladies,  bad  environment,  etc.,  often 
cause  this. 

5.  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery."  Adultery,  fornication,  and  rape  may  be 
included.  This  command  or  law  they  well  enforce  by  inflicting  a  penalty,  by  compelling 
the  persons  thus  offending  to  live  together  and  bear  the  responsibility  of  their  act,  and 
also  indemnify  the  injured  party  by  a  reasonable  sum  of  money,  while  for  oft  repeated 
offenses,  deprivation  of  rights  of  citizenship,  and  even  castration  may  be  required  in 
notorious  cases. 

This  is  a  good  law  which  they  adopt  and  enforce  because  its  violation  tends  to 
destroy  the  home,  the  sanctity  of  marriage,  the  purity  of  life;  puts  a  premium  upon 
immorality,  it  breeds  disease,  it  produces  divorces,  breaks  up  homes,  leaves  children 
both  motherless  and  homeless  as  well  as  fatherless;  it  makes  more  dependent  upon  the 
state  than  is  its  due,  and  through  those  means  it  undermines  the  very  life  of  the  state, 
for  the  perpetuity  of  the  government  depends  in  no  small  degree  upon  the  purity,  the 
intelligence  and  the  happiness  of  its  homes. 

In  rape,  which  is  especially  heinous,  both  castration  and  amputation  is  the  best 
punishment,  as  a  just  measure,  and  as  a  preventive  of  such  crimes,  and  a  debt  owing 
to  posterity,  lest  the  breed  should  be  continued. 

6.  "Thou  shalt  not  steal."  Every  citizen  of  the  government  is  entitled  to  the  pro- 
tection of  his  estate,  whether  real  or  personal  property,  and  the  stability  and  efficiency 
of  any  government  may  be  gauged  in  part  by  the  fidelity  with  which  it  protects  its 
citizens  in  their  property  rights.  No  government  can  be  permanent  which  cannot  and 
does  not  serve  its  citizens  in  this  capacity. 

He  who  steals  takes  from  another  that  to  which  he  has  no  right,  and  may  rightly 
be  punished  by  requiring  the  refunding  of  all  that  has  been  taken,  the  payment  of 
additional  money  or  other  equivalent,  and  is  restrained  in  his  liberties  and  privileges,  and 
in  serious  cases  kept  in  servitude,  or  even  deprived  of  the  rights  of  citizenship,  to  which 
he  is  afterwards  restored  only  for  deeds  of  special  merit  or  worth. 

7.  "Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness."  This  includes  all  kinds  of  lying,  slander, 
libel,  etc.  This  is  punished  by  public  proclamation  of  the  guilt  found,  a  monetary 
indemnity,  and  in  severe  cases,  deprivation  of  liberties  and  rights  of  citizenship,  tem- 
porary or  permanent. 

This  law  should  be  enacted  and  enforced  because  a  man's  good  name  is  his  own 
personal  asset  of  great  value,  and  who  wrongfully  assails  it  is  doing  an  injustice  to  the 
state,  because  the  strength,  unity,  harmony,  and  success  of  the  state  depends  upon  the 
hearty  good-will  and  co-operation  of  its  subjects,  and  if  there  be  telling  of  tales,  false 
reports,  and  lying  about  the  members  of  the  commonwealth  there  cannot  be  the  strong 
bond  of  good  fellowship  and  mutual  helpfulness  that  gives  effectiveness.  Then,  too,  since 
a  man  joining  the  state  gives  over  to  it  the  protection  and  honor  of  his  name  rather  than 
defend  it  alone,  the  state  owes  it  to  him  that  his  name  shall  not  wantonly  be  sullied  by  a 
fellow  subject. 

8.  "Thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's  house,  thou  shalt  not  covet  thy  neighbor's 
wife,  nor  his  manservant,  nor  his  maidservant,  nor  his  ox,  nor  his  ass,  nor  anything  that 
IS  thy  neighbor's."  This  like  the  fifth  and  the  seventh  are  moral  laws  rather  than  civil, 
and  need  to  be  given  by  instruction  for  the  moral  elevation  of  the  young. 


"THOU  SHALT  NOT  STEAL"  47 

Here  is  the  spirit  of  envy  condemned,  which  breaks  out  into  overt  acts  of  wrong 
doing  to  one's  fellowmen. 

Robert — How  do  they  prevent  or  control  gambling? 

Horace — By  teaching  the  truth  upon  this  evil  and  holding  both  the  wrong-doer 
and  the  injured  to  account  for  their  part  in  the  evil.  That  is  to  say,  let  the  one  who 
inveigles  another  into  his  net,  and  thus  steals  from  him,  pay  the  penalty  of  the  theft 
as  in  other  cases  of  stealing,  making  degrees  of  punishment  according  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  case  and  the  amount  of  injury  done.  But  we  must  not  forget  that  often 
the  injured  party  was  just  as  anxious  to  steal  from  the  other  as  the  first  was  to  steal 
from  him,  and  that  in  fact  he  was  not  better  in  his  motive  than  the  first,  and  therefore 
is  not  entitled  to  the  public  sympathy,  but  must  be  condemned  for  his  part  in  helping 
to  carry  on  and  maintain  this  form  of  robbery  in  the  community.  Both  are  guilty  of 
trying  to  get  something  for  nothing,  or  of  planning  and  attempting  to  steal,  but  one 
succeeds  and  the  other  fails  in  the  effort,  and  therefore  both  should  be  held  up  to  public 
gaze  as  thieves,  and  suffer  penalties  in  due  proportion  to  their  attempted  crimes.  The 
one  who  is  beaten  and  "squeals"  is  no  better  than  the  other.  The  one  who  is  always 
successful  in  his  gambling  ventures  may  not  only  need  to  be  punished,  but  may  need  a 
guardian  to  put  him  to  some  useful  employment,  where  his  shrewdness  and  abilities  may 
be  used  for  the  public  good;  and  the  one  who  habitually  squanders  his  money  in  this 
manner  may,  besides  suitable  punishment,  need  a  guardian  to  conserve  his  energies  and 
wisely  direct  his  work  and  his  earnings  for  his  own  good,  and  that  of  the  state. 

Robert — How  do  they  prevent  wild-cat  speculation? 

Horace — By  teaching  the  truth  about  legitimate  and  safe  investments,  as  well  as 
unsafe  ones;  but  more  important  still,  is  that  of  holding  the  promoters  of  all  these 
schemes  accountable  for  their  claims  and  for  the  fair  and  legitimate  inferences  to  be 
drawn  from  their  advertisements,  promises  and  guarantees.  The  perpetrators  of  these 
outrageous  frauds  are,  as  a  rule,  shrewd,  sharp  schemers,  who  deliberately,  knowingly, 
and  with  evil  intent,  catch  the  unwary,  and  with  the  technical  protection  of  the  law 
rob  the  poor  and  innocent  of  their  hard  earned  savings  by  false  and  unscrupulous  repre- 
sentations. Of  course  it  is  many  times  done  in  open  violation  of  law,  and  sometimes 
these  criminals  are  brought  to  punishment,  (I  do  not  say  to  justice)  but  in  the  United 
States  too  often  they  are  allowed  to  escape  under  a  technicality,  or  by  the  connivance  of 
an  evil  Judge,  or  the  rascality  and  help  of  a  scalawag  attorney. 

If  the  parties  who  organize,  promote  and  stand  sponsors  before  the  public  for 
these  irregular  schemes  were  all  to  be  held  accountable  at  the  bar  of  justice,  and  each 
to  bear  full  responsibility  until  the  damage  done  to  innocent  parties  was  wholly  repaired, 
there  would  be  few  calls  for  wild-cat  speculation.  The  certainty  of  an  adequate  punish- 
ment meted  out  to  all  such  would  be  a  most  healthful  and  forceful  deferent  to  the  forma- 
tion of  such  companies  and  enterprises.  This  is  another  case  which  shows  the  importance 
of  requiring  all  parties  to  fulfill  their  contracts  and  meet  in  full  their  voluntary  obligations. 
When  these  promoters  organize  their  schemes  they  do  so  voluntarily  and  they  give  their 
glowing  accounts  of  success  and  promise  large  returns  and  offer  special  inducements 
to  investors,  all  of  their  own  accord,  and  make  these  alluring  assurances  voluntarily, 
and  often  cunningly  with  intention  to  deceive  and  mislead  the  public,  apparently  promise 
what  they  know  they  cannot  do;  therefore  if  all  such  knew  they  would  be  held  to  strict 
account  for  their  dealings  with  the  individuals,  they  would  be  more  cautious  in  under- 
taking such  schemes,  and  less  daring  in  their  methods,  and  some  might  even  choose 
rather  to  earn  an  honest  living  than  take  chances,  where  conviction  is  sure  and  punish- 
ment most  certain.  Here,  as  always,  the  punishment  must  not  only  be  sure,  but  it  must 
be  adequate  to  the  offense.  And  hence  in  Equitania  these  ideals  are  maintained  and 
little  of  such  promotion  schemes  are  known. 

The  will  of  a  community,  city,  state,  or  nation,  is  the  combined  will  of  the  individuals 
which  compose  it.  Or,  as  we  say,  the  will  of  the  majority  rules  or  should  rule,  and  this 
will  is  made  up  of  the  wills  of  the  individuals  of  that  majority.  Does  the  will  really 
rule  the  individual,  and  does  it  rule  in  the  community?  If  the  will  does  not  and  cannot 
be  made  to  rule  the  person,  neither  can  the  combined  wills  of  the  units  of  the  com- 
munity rule  or  be  made  to  rule  it.  The  individual  then  is  ruled  by  circumstances,  environ- 
ment and  conditions,  and  likewise  must  society  be  so  ruled  for  it  is  composed  only  of  the 
individuals.     If  then  man  as  a  person  is  only  a  creature  of  environment,  so  too  is  the 


ace 


48  EQUITAXIA,   OK  THK    LAXD   OF   EQUITY 

city,  state,  or  nation,  and  we  though  counting  ourselves  intelligent,  rational  and  respon 
sible  beings  are  mere  puppets  in  the  whirligig  of  time  and  human  machines  upon  the  fac< 
of  the  earth,  and  only  high  grade  automatons  in  the  animal  creation.  Experience,  science 
and  revelation  all  teach  us  that  this  is  not  and  cannot  be  true,  for  we  are  responsible 
and  answerable  to  each  other,  but  chiefly  to  Jehovah  for  our  doings  here  upon  earth. 
And  whilst  we  may  admit  the  force  of  heredity,  the  power  of  environment,  and  the 
influence  of  circumstances  upon  the  growth  of  man  individually  and  collectively,  still 
we  cannot  be  true  to  humanity,  to  science,  history,  experience,  nor  Revelation,  unless 
we  see  that  above  and  beyond  all  of  these  is  the  Ego,  the  Will,  the  man  to  shape  and 
mould  and  make  character  and  destiny  in  spite  of  the  best  or  most  adverse  environment. 
Man  is  not  an  involuntary  piece  of  mechanism  bound  by  inexorable  law  to  obey  the 
will  of  another  without  preference  or  choice  in  the  matter,  else  it  were  folly  to  hold 
him  accountable  or  responsible  for  his  acts  and  doings.  Otherwise  all  of  our  laws  in 
civil  government  which  in  any  way  hold  men  accountable  for  their  acts,  are  wrong  and 
unjust.  A  man  is  not  responsible  for  doing  what  he  cannot  help  doing.  A  man  is  not 
accountable  for  doing  a  thing  which  he  must  inevitably  do,  and  over  which  he  has  no 
control.  We  are  not  responsible,  nor  accountable  for  anything  we  do  if  we  cannot  help 
doing  the  thing;  and  therefore  could  not  justly  be  punished  for  doing  any  sach  thing. 
We  can  only  be  punished  for  doing  the  things  we  ought  not  to  have  done,  and  which 
we  need  not  have  done.  Upon  this  basis  is  all  civil  or  human  and  Divine  legislation  and 
judgment  founded,  so  that  if  we  deny  the  justice  of  the  basis  we  at  once  take  away  the 
right  and  need  for  legislation  and  the  infliction  of  penalties  for  any  violation  of  law, 
custom  or  precedent.  If  man  cannot  help  profanity,  why  the  third  command  of  the 
Decalogue?  If  man  cannot  help  desecration  of  the  Sabbath  Day,  why  the  fourth  com- 
mand? If  man  cannot  help  stealing,  lying,  adultery,  and  so  forth,  why  the  command, 
"Thou  shalt  not?"  To  say  that  the  Almighty  Jehovah  who  made  man  and  knows  the 
innermost  of  his  being,  his  powers  and  possibilities,  would  issue  such  commands  to  a 
being  which  was  a  mere  automaton,  without  power  of  choice,  and  a  mere  mechanical 
device,  is  to  insult  the  Divine  Majesty;  and  to  say  that  man  cannot  help  doing  the  things 
that  he  does,  and  is  compelled  by  heredity,  environment  or  conditions  over  which  he 
has  no  control,  to  do  certain  acts,  makes  him  at  once  irresponsible  for  those  acts  and 
not  amenable  to  punishment;  and  any  penalty  inflicted  is  both  unjust  and  wholly 
unwarranted,  therefore  civil  law  is  a  farce  and  our  pretense  of  justice  a  travesty.  As 
an  illustration,  therefore,  we  are  stating  the  truth  when  we  say  that  cohabitation  outside 
of  wedlock  is  a  purely  voluntary  matter,  and  both  men  and  women  can  indulge  or  refrain 
as  they  choose,  and  hence  it  is  an  act  for  which  they  are  responsible,  and  if  such  act 
be  detrimental  to  man's  civil  welfare,  or  his  highest  and  best,  or  spiritual  interests,  then 
that  power  which  is  rightly  in  control  of  these  respective  interests  may  justly  and  it  ought 
in  equity  to  enact  or  issue  suitable  laws  against  this  injurious  or  harmful  act  and  mete  out 
an  adequate  penalty  for  its  performance,  or  for  the  violation  of  such  laws.  It  is  not  reason- 
able to  suppose  that  Jehovah  issued  the  command,  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,"  as  a 
mere  whim  of  an  autocrat;  but  that  it  was  done  for  the  highest  and  best  interests  of  man, 
and  that  its  careful  observance  would  redound  to  his  good.  And  he  would  be  a  rash 
and  illogical  man  who  would  affirm  that  adultery  is  even  a  good  thing  in  civil  society 
and  should  be  encouraged  for  more  general  observance  among  all  classes.  And  yet  it 
is  either  a  good  thing  to  be  promoted  and  encouraged,  or  it  is  a  bad  thing,  and  ought  to 
be  suppressed  in  the  most  successful  and  effective  manner.  And  here,  as  upon  every 
other  question  relating  to  man  as  a  rational,  responsible  being,  nothing  can  be  needful 
to  him,  or  best  for  him,  which  will  work  an  injustice  to  another,  or  finally  be  an  injury  to 
himself;  and  further,  whatever  is  right,  equitable  and  best  for  one  human  being  would  be 
equally  so  for  every  other  human  being  in  like  circumstances. 

Smart — Are  there  any  other  means  used  in  this  remarkable  country  to  prevent 
crime  and  evil  doings?  You  may  know  that  it  is  held  by  many  in  the  United  States 
that  crime  and  vice  are  often  produced  by  allowing  too  free  use  of  our  country  to 
foreigners. 

C.  V.  Collins,  Superintendent  of  State  Prisons  of  the  state  of  New  York  says,  "A 
census  of  4,320  prisoners  in  Sing  Sing,  Auburn,  and  Clinton  prisons  showed  that  1,091, 
or  25  per  cent  were  aliens." 

Senator  Overman    from   North   Carolina   quoting   from   letters   of   New  York   state 


GOVERNMENT  SHOULD  HELP  49 

officials  said,  "It  costs  New  York  state  in  the  neighborhood  of  fifteen  to  twenty  millions 
of  dollars  a  year  to  maintain  the  foreign-born,  or  rather,  the  alien  inmates  in  New 
York  state  institutions — that  is,  prisons,  asylums,  alms-houses,  etc.  That  is  about  one- 
fourth  of  the  taxes  raised  in  New  York  are  raised  for  the  purpose  of  supporting  foreign 
born  deficients,  dependents  and  delinquents." 

John  Mitchell,  President  United  Mine  Workers  of  America,  testified  at  the  Labor 
Conference,  "A  man  who  starts  out  for  employment  is  at  first  a  respectable,  high-class 
man,  but  he  has  no  place  to  work  and  no  money  to  buy  food,  and  just  as  surely  as 
mingling  with  depravity  lowers  a  man  step  by  step  until  he  no  longer  wants  to  associate 
with  honorable  men,  so  it  is  that  unemployment  and  beating  your  way  from  place  to 
place  and  associating  only  with  those  who  will  associate  with  you  lowers  you  down 
until  you  forget  the  condition  in  which  you  used  to  be.  They  are  tramps,  bums  and 
finally  hoboes,  men  who  no  longer  want  work.  So  that  instead  of  these  immigrants 
pushing  men  up  to  better  planes  of  society,  they  push  them  out." 

Mr.  Patten,  before  the  committee  on  Immigration  and  Naturalization  said,  "These 
proceedings  contain  expressions  of  similar  opinions  by  labor  leaders  and  labor  repre- 
sentatives, all  in  accord  with  Mr.  Mitchell's  experience.  It  seems  to  be  their  opinion 
that  the  present  foreign  immigration  of  from  900,000  to  1,400,000  aliens  annually 
has  the  effect  of  making  tramps,  hoboes,  criminals,  and  drunkards,  etc.,  of  those  already 
here — that  it  pushes  them  down  and  out  or  aside." 

The  following  resolutions  among  many  others  were  presented  to  the  committee  as  an 
expression  of  feeling,  sentiment,  and  opinion  from  these  deeply  and  directly  interested: 
"Therefore,  be  it  resolved.  That  the  Farmers'  Educational  and  Co-operative 
Union  of  America  in  fifth  annual  convention  assembled  at  Birmingham,  Alabama, 
representing  over  two  million  of  farmers,  re-iterate  and  re-affirm  the  immigration 
resolutions  adopted  unanimously  at  Memphis  and  at  Fort  Worth,  calling  upon  our 
state  and  particularly  our  federal  officials  to  exclude  the  present  foreign  influx 
by  means  of  an  increased  head  tax,  a  money  test,  the  illiteracy  test,  and  other 
effective    measures." 

"Resolved,  by  the  Medical  Council,  Order  United  American  Mechanics,  in 
its  sixty-third  annual  session,  at  Providence,  R.  I.,  that  we  urge  upon  Congress  the 
enactment  of  additional  legislation,  strengthening  existing  laws  and  further  restrict- 
ing foreign  immigration  by  means  of  an  increased  head  tax,  a  money  test,  the 
exclusion  of  alien  adultsunable  to  read  in  a  European  language  or  dialect,  the 
fining  of  the  foreign  steamship  companies  for  bringing  here  deportable  immigrants, 
and  such  other  measures  as  will  exclude  the  present  influx  of  foreign  undesirables, 
protect^  the  country's  welfare,  preserve  its  institutions,  and  maintain  its  present  high 
ideals." 

Stephen  A.  Douglas  said,  "It  is  the  duty  of  government  to  coerce  men  to  perform 
their  obligations  to  their  fellowmen."  Gladstone  said,  "It  is  the  duty  of  government 
to  make  it  easy  for  the  people  to  do  right  and  hard  for  them  to  do  wrong." 

In  the  preamble  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  we  find  these  words,  "We 

the  people  of  the  United  States  in  order  to  establish  justice,  insure  domestic  tranquility • 

promote  the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity do  ordain  and  establish  this  constitution  of  the  United  States  of  America." 

Hence  we  may  say  briefly  and  truthfully  the  object  of  civil  government  is  to  secure 
to  Its  subjects  their  rights;  and  further,  the  government  which  most  perfectly  does  this, 
is  the  highest  form  of  government.  And  more,  the  government  which  does  not  achieve 
this  object  is  a  most  woeful  failure. 

Among  the  inalienable  rights  of  every  human  being  are  "life,  liberty   and   the 
pursuit  of  happiness." 

1.  That  every  one,  young  or  old,  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low,  weak  or  strong 
IS  naturally  entitled  to  all  the  necessities  of  life;  provided  only  that  he  does  what 
he  can  to  secure  them  for  himself,  will  hardly  be  denied. 

2.  That  the  necessities  of  life  include  food,  clothing,  shelter,  occupation, 
recreation,  education  and  the  exercise  of  the  religious  instinct  no  one  will  question. 

3.  That  there  is  food,  clothing,  shelter  and  work  enough  to  be  done  in  the 
United  States  for  each  person  to  have  a  sufficient  portion  if  only  they  were  equitably 


r,0  KgriTANIA,    ()l{    TIIK    l.AXD   OF  EQUITY 

distributed,  will  not  be  denied  by  any  thoughtful  person.     And  that  there  are  enough 

people  to  do  the  work  to  be  done,  lor  each  to  have  time  for  recreation,  education 

and  the  practice  of  his  religious  functions  is  self-evident. 

In  1880  of  persons  in  the  United  States  engaged  in  all  occupations,  more  than 
1,000.000  of  them  were  under   15  years  of  age. 

The  Illinois  Commissioners  of  Labor  Statistics  report  that  one-half  of  the  intelligent 
working  men  of  the  state  are  not  even  able  to  earn  enough  for  their  daily  bread,  and 
are  forced  to  depend  upon  the  labor  of  women  and  children  to  eke  out  a  miserable 
existence.  Surely  these  are  striking  and  most  suggestive  facts.  On  many  accounts 
child  labor  should  be  abolished.  Heads  of  families  should  receive  living  wages,  and 
homes  should  be  maintained  at  all  hazards,  as  the  bulwark  of  the  state. 

Herbert  Spencer  gives  as  his  first  principle  or  formula  of  justice.  "Every  man  is 
free  to  do  that  which  he  will,  provided  he  infringes  not  the  equal  freedom  of  any  other 
man."  And  in  his  more  recent  work  he  says  further.  "When  we  assert  the  liberty  of 
each  bounded  only  by  the  like  liberties  of  all.  we  assert  each  is  free  to  keep  for  himself 
all  those  gratifications  and  sources  of  gratification  which  he  procures  without  trespassing 
on  the  spheres  of  action  of  his  neighbors.  If  therefore,  one  obtains  by  his  greater 
strength,  greater  ingenuity,  or  greater  application,  more  gratification  or  sources  of 
gratification  than  others,  and  does  this  without  in  any  way  trenching  upon  the  spheres 
of  others,  the  law  of  equal  freedom  assigns  him  exclusive  possession  of  all  such  extra 
gratifications  and  sources  of  gratification,  nor  can  others  take  them  from  him  without 
claiming  for  themselves  greater  liberty  of  action  than  he  claims  and  thereby  violating 
the   law." 

Another  has  truly  said  (Henry  George),  "The  right  to  Hfe  and  liberty,  the  rigbt 
of  the  individual  to  himself,  presupposes  and  involves  the  right  of  property,  which  is 
the  exclusive  right  of  the  individual  to  the  things  his  exertion  has  produced."  "That 
the  state  is  not  an  individual,  but  is  composed  of  individual  members,  all  of  whom  must 
be  affected  by  its  action,  is  the  reason  why  its  legitimate  sphere  is  that  of  securing  to 
those  members  equal  rights."     "It  is  the  duty  of  the  state  to  secure  equality  of  rights." 

It  is  not  too  much,  then,  to  say  that  one  of  the  functions  of  government  is  to  secure 
equity  among  men. 

The  ideal  state  or  government  as  you  have  shown  is  that  in  which  every  one  does 
as  he  would  be  done  by.  But  that  man  in  his  present  state  of  depravity  will  not  do  this 
by  choice,  is  evident.  Hence  it  is  that  the  state  or  government  is  formed,  and  a  compact 
entered  into  by  which  the  members  thereof  must  be  coerced  to  give  to  each  his  rights 
and  by  which  each  is  protected  in  equity  from  both  internal  and  external  foes. 

Comte's  idea  that,  "There  can  be  no  society  without  a  government,"  is  undoubtedly 
true  and  the  nearer  the  government  approaches  the  ideal,  the  better  is  society. 

The  only  Igeislative  basis  ol  civil  society  or  government  according  to  Rosseau  is 
"Each  of  us  puts  in  common  his  goods,  his  person,  his  life,  and  all  his  powers  under  the 
supreme  direction  of  the  General  Will,  and  we  collectively  receive,  each  member  as  an 
individual  part  of  the  whole." 

Graham,  an  authority  in  political  economy  says,  "It  (the  state)  has  to  make  just 
and  beneficial  laws  respecting  property.  It  is  its  duty  to  enforce  contracts.  It  is  its 
duty  to  help  the  more  helpless,  if  it  can." 

Of  the  100,000  criminals  today  behind  the  bars  in  the  United  States  it  is  safe  to 
say  that  not  75  per  cent  of  them  had  proper  homes,  instruction  and  useful  employment. 
Of  the  100,000  tramps  or  more,  who  are  now  abroad  in  the  land,  the  greater  proportion 
would  today  be  in  useful  occupations  if  their  early  training  had  been  ideal  and  an 
opportunity  furnished  them  for  honorable  employment.  Of  the  millions  now  in  dis- 
content and  idleness,  the  large,  yea,  the  very  large  majority  would  now  be  happy  in 
useful  industry  if  only  a  reasonable  chance  were  afforded  them. 

As  you  say  they  have  provided  these  things  fairly,  and  they  are  working  well  in 
Equitania,  is  proof  of  their  practicability  and  further  evidence  that  we  in  the  United 
States  should  do   likewise. 

Oh!  the  tragedy  of  it,  that  multitudes  who  labor  in  the  most  exacting  spheres  of  life 
for  many  weary  years  at  last  must  come  to  want  and  penury,  the  alms  house  or  the 
asylum!      That  a  vast  army  of  our  countrymen  toiling  day  and  night  in  the  mine,  the 


DUTY  OF  MEETING  OBLIGATIONS  51 

shop,  the  mill  and  the  factory,  excessive  hours,  with  little  or  no  recreation  or  day  of 
rest,  after  all  these  cruel  hardships  do  not  receive  enough  wages  to  afford  themselves 
and  those  dependent  upon  them  the  necessaries  of  life!  It  is  monstrous;  and  it  is 
infinitely  worse  when  we  remember  that  others  of  our  countrymen  who  for  less  work, 
less  hardships,  live  in  extravagant  luxury  ?nd  erse.  Is  this  equality  of  rights?  Is  this 
our  boastful  freedom?  Is  it  for  this  our  fathers  laid  down  their  lives?  Was  it  for  this 
purpose  the  All  Wise  and  beneficent  Creator  peopled  this  world  and  established  govern- 
ments among  men?  This  is  a  travesty  upon  justice  and  will  not  last.  We  are  one 
people  and  are  entitled  in  equity  to  equal  rights  and  privileges.  The  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  high  and  the  low,  the  learned  and  the  ignorant,  while  citizens  of  the  same  govern- 
ment are  entitled  to  the  same  consideration.  No  man,  nor  combination  of  men  because 
of  wealth  or  position,  have  any  right  to  interfere  with  these  similar  privileges.  In  fact 
we  consent  to  be  of  those  constituting  the  government  upon  condition  that  our  rights  shall 
be  preserved  and  equity  shall  be  meted  out  to  each  by  the  strong  arm  of  the  government, 
so  that  any  other  course  is  subversive  of  and  destructive  to  the  government. 

The  man  or  corporation  who  employs  labor  at  less  than  living  wages  is  an  enemy 
to  the  race,  a  traitor  to  the  country,  and  should  be  coerced  to  do  justly.  He  who  employs 
another  in  any  capacity  is  under  obligation  by  contract  to  pay  for  the  services  rendered, 
and  if  he  fails  to  pay  he  is  a  robber,  and  no  amount  of  apologies  or  excuses  can  pay 
that  debt.  Nothing  but  the  fulfillment  of  the  contract  can  liquidate  the  debt.  Equity 
will  not  have  been  done  until  the  debt  is  paid  in   full. 

The  carpenter  who  contracts  to  work  for  $2.50  a  day,  and  when  the  job  is  done, 
only  gets  $2.00  per  day,  has  been  robbed  of  50  cents  a  day,  and  if  he  must  needs  go 
to  law  to  secure  his  rights,  then  equity  demands  that  he  should  be  allowed  his  necessary 
expenses  in  making  the  collection. 

If  a  seamstress  contracts  to  make  a  dress  for  $10.00,  then  when  the  employer 
accepts  the  article  she  is  indebted  to  the  seamstress  $10.00  and  should  be  compelled  to 
pay  that  amount  and  whatever  else  is  necessary  to  cover  the  cost  of  collecting  the  same. 

If  a  man  buys  $25.00  worth  of  groceries,  then  he  owes  the  grocer  $25.00,  and  should 
be  compelled  to  pay  it. 

If  a  poor  woman  deposits  her  hard  earned  savings  in  the  bank,  and  the  bank  breaks, 
then  every  officer  of  that  bank  together  with  the  stock-holders  should  be  held  accountable 
by  the  government  and  made  to  pay  her  every  penny  due  her,  and  that  without  a  single 
dollar  of  expense  to  her. 

Equitania  is  right  when  she  insists  on  the  government  requiring  her  subjects  to  fulfill 
their  contracts  or  forfeit  their  right  of  independence. 

From  the  absconding  treasurer  of  a  great  state  to  the  man  in  the  humblest  walks 
in  life,  let  the  universal  rule  be  that  citizens  must  meet  their  obligations  to  their  fellow- 
men.  "Owe  no  man  anything,"  is  Scriptural  injunction  of  universal  and  world-wide 
application. 

That  rich  men  and  corporations  in  this  country  can  and  do  employ  help  without 
paying  it  in  full,  simply  because  it  cannot  afford  to  fight  for  equity,  not  having  the 
means  to  command  suitable  assistance,  and  hence  that  in  countless  instances  injustice 
is  tolerated  by  our  government,  is  a  foul  blot  and  reeking  blemish  upon  it. 

The  man  or  corporation  who  does  not  pay  his  bills,  either  will  not  or  cannot,  and  the 
creditors  are  in  just  so  much  robbed.  Now  if  he  can,  but  will  not,  he  should  be  com- 
pelled by  government  to  pay  them.  If  he  cannot,  then  he  should  be  given  just  such 
aid  as  will  enable  him  to  do  it;  but  mark  you,  that  man  or  corporation  should  be  held 
accountable  and  kept  at  it  until  every  bill  is  paid  in  full.  No  man  has  any  right  to 
contract  obligations  he  cannot  fulfill,  neither  has  a  corporation.  The  state  is  therefore 
under  obligation  to  coerce  all  of  its  subjects  to  perform  in  full  their  contracts.  Every 
honest,  capable  man  and  corporation  can  fulfill  his  contracts  if  only  he  be  given  a 
suitable  chance.  The  man  who  has  steady  employment  at  a  living  wage  can  meet  all 
of  his  obligations,  if  mentally  competent.  He  should  be  afforded  this  opportunity  and 
allowed  to  succeed.  If  mentally  incompetent  he  should  have  a  suitable  guardian.  Thus 
it  is  true  that  every  man  can  under  proper  conditions  provide  the  necessaries  of  life 
for  himself  and  those  naturally  dependent  upon  him,  and  he  can  meet  all  of  his  obli- 
gations.    Therefore  he  should  be  compelled  to  do  so. 

Once  more,  the  man  who  does  not  pay  his  obligations  when  he  is  given  a  fair  chance 


52  EQUITANIA,   OK   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

either  cannot  or  will  not.  If  he  cannot,  neither  should  he  be  allowed  to  vote  or  hold 
office  in  a  government  when  he  is  incompetent  to  justly  conduct  his  own  affairs.  Sudh 
an  elector  and  office  holder  is  a  detriment  to  the  government  and  works  a  hardship  for 
the  people.  If  he  will  not  meet  his  obligations  he  should  be  compelled  to  do  so,  nor 
should  he  be  allowed  to  vote  or  hold  office  in  a  commonwealth  of  free  born  citizens, 
for  if  he  is  not  honest  in  his  personal  affairs  how  much  more  dishonest  will  he  be  in 
the  matters  of  state?  Such  influence  is  and  must  always  be  pernicious  in  the  state,  and 
extremely  detrimental   to   the   citizens. 

The  man  who  will  not  deal  justly  by  his  fellows  in  the  smaller  and  personal  matters 
will  not  do  the  equitable  thing  as  an  official  or  an  elector. 

He  that  is  not  just  himself  need  not  be  expected  to  demand  or  secure  justice  for 
others.    Therefore  all  such  should  be  refused  as  electors  and  officers. 

As  American  citizens  it  is  our  boast  that  we  are  safe  in  any  land  the  world  over  if 
the  stars  and  stripes  float  o'er  us;  that  no  nation  dare  trespass  upon  a  single  right  of  the 
humblest  citizen  of  this  great  republic.  It  is  indeed  an  honor  to  be  a  subject  of  so 
great  and  glorious  a  nation.  But  what  care  1  for  a  foreign  foe  if  I  be  crushed  by  an 
enemy  at  home?  What  matters  to  me  protection  abroad  if  corporations  at  home  may 
starve  me.  Of  what  use  to  me  is  the  American  flag  abroad  if  it  does  not  at  home 
afford  me  labor  at  living  wages,  protection  from  the  man  who  withholds  from  me  my 
just  earnings,  the  tyranny  of  trusts,  the  cruel  oppression  of  corporations  and  the  iron 
heel  of  monopolies? 

If  that  flag  does  not  secure  to  me  my  natural  rights  at  home  and  make  it  possible 
for  me  to  obtain  the  necessaries  of  life  for  myself  and  those  naturally  dependent  upon 
me,  by  putting  forth  a  reasonable  effort  to  secure  them,  then  I  care  not  for  its  protection 
abroad,  I  glory  not  in  its  victories,  I  rejoice  not  in  its  triumphs,  neither  will  I  weep  when 
she  is  trampled  under  the  feet  of  rebellion  at  home  or  trailed  in  the  dust  by  enemies 
abroad. 

I  am  glad  that  no  foreign  power  dare  come  here  to  molest  me  or  to  take  from  me 
a  single  natural  right;  but  I  have  a  right  to  demand  that  my  fellow  citizens  as  individual 
members  of  this  government,  or  as  cofporations,  subject  to  the  government,  be  compelled 
to  keep  their  obligations  with  me  and  refrain  from  doing  me  an  injustice,  no  less  hurtful 
and  injurious  because  done  at  home  rather  than  abroad.  Every  socalled  honest  (?) 
bank  or  mercantile  failure  is  due  to  people  who  have  borrowed  the  money  and  failed  to 
return  it,  or  bought  the  goods  and  failed  to  pay  for  them.  These  in  turn  have  loaned 
money  or  sold  goods  or  labor  to  a  third  party  who  has  failed  to  pay  for  the  same,  and 
thus  a  multitude  of  people  failing  to  meet  their  obligations,  ere  long  financial  stress, 
hard  times  and  great  failures  come.  Whereas  if  each  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest 
were  compelled  to  meet  his  obligations,  money  would  be  loaned  without  security  at  lower 
interest;  goods  would  be  sold  cheaper,  and  there  would  be  fewer  failures  in  the  business 
world.  The  state  which  guarantees  to  me  protection  in  my  rights  must  see  to  it  that  I 
get  my  own.  When  I  have  earned  a  dollar,  or  sold  a  dollar's  worth  of  goods,  or  deposited 
a  dollar  in  the  bank,  that  dollar  belongs  to  me,  and  the  state  cannot  release  the  debtor 
until  that  is  paid  to  me  in  full.  If  the  bank  breaks,  hold  every  officer  and  stockholder 
responsible  until  they  have  returned  to  me  the  money  deposited.  If  the  cashier  absconds, 
hold  the  officers  and  stock-holders  responsible  as  before,  but  hunt  down  the  defaulter  if 
you  must  traverse  the  known  world  to  do  it  and  make  him  refund  every  dollar  stolen. 

The  security  of  the  state  and  the  perpetuity  of  this  government  are  dependent  upon 
the  intelligence,  purity,  justice  and  loyalty  of  the  citizens  and  all  of  these  are  dependent 
upon  the  home.  It  must  be  intelligent,  pure,  comfortable,  and  orderly  to  produce  such 
citizens.  Therefore  it  is  essential  for  the  state  to  lend  its  best  eff^orts  to  secure  the  ideal 
homes.  You  cannot  make  a  strong  patriot  of  an  unfed  father,  and  unsheltered  husband 
whose  little  ones  cry  for  bread.  Poverty,  ignorance,  lack  of  good  morals  and  religion, 
vice  and  idleness  are  the  most  fruitful  sources  of  crime  and  from  these  things  our 
nation  has  more  to  fear  than  from  all  other  sources.  One  of  the  Supreme  Judge!  said. 
There  is  a  large  class,  I  was  about  to  say  a  majority  of  the  population  of  New  York 
and  Brooklyn  who  just  live,  and  to  whom  the  raising  of  two  or  more  children  means 
invariably  a  boy  for  the  penitentiary  and  a  girl  for  the  brothel." 

Honorable   Chauncey   M.    Depew   pointedly   says,   "After   a   young   man   has  been 


HELP  FOR  THE   UNEMPLOYED  53 

launched  into  the  world,  to  win  his  way  as  best  he  may,  the  state  takes  no  further  care 
than  to  furnish  a  poHceman  to  arrest  him  in  case  he  goes  astray." 

If  voluntary  idleness  breeds  crime,  disease  and  vice,  how  much  more  when  idli^ness 
is  enforced  and  the  would  be  honest  toiler  is  driven  to  hunger  and  his  loved  ones  to 
bitter  want.  He  looks  about  him  and  knows  that  he  has  not  a  fair  chance,  and  his 
instinct  tells  him  that  he  is  by  rights  entitled  to  the  necessities  of  life  for  what  he  is  able 
to  do;  but  alas!  no  opportunity  is  afforded  him  to  do  anything  however  humble  to 
supply  his  needs?  In  1863  there  were  four  million  blacks  in  American  bondage  and 
under  the  task-master's  lash,  when  the  immortal  Lincoln  issued  his  famous  proclamation, 
that  set  them  free.  Today  we  have  a  more  cruel  slavery  and  a  more  widespread  serfdom 
in  our  midst,  for  it  saps  the  loyalty  and  independence  of  our  white  population  and 
includes  millions  of  our  laboring  and  middle  classes;  in  that  labor  does  not  receive  its 
just  reward,  is  worked  over  time,  has  no  Sabbath,  little  recreation  and  no  independence. 
Men  must  work  for  soulless  corporations  and  often  at  dishonorable  employment,  or  take 
the    alternative   of   starvation. 

Sec.  10,  Article  I,  of  the  United  States  Constitution  declares,  "No  state  shall  pass 
any  bill  of  attainder  or  law  impairing  the  obligations  of  contracts." 

The  Fourteenth  Amendment,  Sec  I,  declared,  "Nor  shall  any  state  deprive  any  person 
ot  life,  liberty  or  property  without  due  process  of  law,  nor  deny  to  any  person  within 
its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the  laws." 

How  do  these  declarations  comport  with  the  practice  in  this  country  of  permitting 
men  and  corporations  to  deprive  citizens  of  their  just  earnings.  Every  honest  man  wants 
to  pay  his  debts  and  will  do  so  if  he  can.    The  dishonest  man  should  be  made  to  do  it. 

Why  is  it  that  in  this  country  of  unlimited  resources  and  comparatively  scattered 
population,  the  husband  and  father  must  be  clothed  in  rags,  the  wife  unsheltered  and  the 
children  cry  for  bread?  Simply  because  there  is  no  demand  for  his  labor  and  government 
which  is  in  honor  bound  to  do  its  duty  by  him  will  not  furnish  it.  I  insist  that  from  the 
very  compact  of  the  government  every  citizen  is  justly  entitled  to  all  the  necessities  of 
life,  if  only  he  will  do  what  he  can  to  secure  them  and  that  in  case  of  failure  on  his 
part  from  any  cause  whatever,  the  government  is  in  honor  bound  and  for  its  own  safety 
should  supplement  his  effort  in  the  best  manner  possible  to  secure  this  result.  And 
that  best  method  is  to  provide  him  with  suitable  employment,  in  exchange  for  which 
the  necessities  are  furnished  him. 

I  want  food,  clothing,  shelter,  prosperity  and  protection  for  every  American.  I 
want  the  man  who  works  in  the  ditch,  on  the  farm,  in  the  mill,  factory  or  mine  to  be 
paid  for  his  labor  just  as  good  a  dollar  as  that  paid  to  the  banker,  the  President  of  the 
United  States  or  King  of  England.  I  want  the  American  government  to  throw  its  strong 
arms  of  protection  about  every  citizen,  the  weakest  as  well  as  the  strongest,  the  poorest 
as  well  as  the  richest,  the  humblest  as  well  as  the  highest,  guaranteeing  and  securing  for 
each  equal  rights,  justice  to  all  and  special  favors  to  none. 

Yes,  I  stand  squarely  upon  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  in  making  these 
demands.  I  stand  upon  the  Word  of  God,  the  Supreme  rule  for  man's  direction,  and 
insist  upon  equity  being  done  to  one  and  all.  It  is  only  because  we  have  departed  from 
the  plain  declaration  of  these  documents  that  rank  injustice  prevails,  tyranny  and  oppres- 
sion are  in  the  ascendent,  while  discontent,  unrest  and  suffering  are  so  widespread 
among  our  countrymen   and   fellowmen. 

It  was  Carlyle  who  said,  "For  the  unemployed  generally,  the  government  should 
provide  employment,  exacting  work  in  return,  if  need  be  by  punishment."  Some  one 
will  say  that  is  all  very  well  but  it  is  not  possible  for  government  to  employ  or  secure 
labor  for  all  of  its  citizens.  Here  then  is  a  practical  question.  Can  government  exist 
and  afford  work  of  proper  kind  and  in  return  therefor  furnish  the  necessities  of  life 
to  all  her  people?  I  answer  yes,  and  the  marvel  is  that  she  has  not  gone  down  ere  this 
simply  because  she  has  failed  in  this  respect.  If  John  Wannamaker  can  supply  the  needs 
of  all  his  many  employees,  which  he  does  if  he  pays  them  living  wages,  how  much  more 
easily  can  the  government  do  the  same  for  those  dependent  upon  it,  because  its  resources 
are  as  much  greater  than  his,  as  are  its  dependents  more  numerous  than  his. 

With  our  present  population,  immense  wealth  and  exhaustless  resources,  it  is  easy 
to  see  that  there  is  work  enough  for  all  and  bountiful  provision  to  supply  the  fullest 
needs  of  all  our  citizens,  if  only  reasonable  distribution  were  made.     The  Malthusian 


54  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND  OF  EQUITY 

idea  that  increase  of  population  is  greater  than  the  possibiHties  of  supply  of  necessaries, 
does  not  and  for  generations  cannot  apply  to  this  country,  however  applicable  it  may 
be  to  foreign  countries. 

Once  more,  if  the  government  as  now  existing  can  give  employment  at  living  wages 
(as  it  does)  to  such  a  vast  army  of  men  and  women  as  are  now  filling  government 
positions,  how  easy  a  matter  is  it  to  enlarge  its  powers  in  the  direction  that  it  may  fur- 
nish occupation  to  many  more. 

Who  can  look  upon  the  toiling  masses,  over-worked,  under-paid,  oppressed,  down- 
trodden, and  in  as  abject  bondage  to  corporate  wealth  as  ever  the  black  man  was  to  his 
master,  and  not  be  moved  with  longing  and  intense  desire  to  in  some  way  alleviate  his 
distress,  better  his  condition,  and  relieve  his  want?  Show  me  a  man  with  heart  of  steel 
unmoved  by  human  woe,  untouched  by  the  weary  toilers'  need,  no  pity  for  the  idle 
suffering  multitude,  and  I  will  show  you  a  man  unworthy  the  suffrages  of  a  free  born 
people,  a  traitor  to  his  country,  and  an  enemy  to  his  race.  Whilst  it  is  true  that  "one 
touch  of  nature  makes  the  whole  world  kin,"  it  is  also  true  that  "man's  mhumanity  to  man 
makes  countless  thousands  mourn."  The  world's  motto  is,  "Every  man  for  himself,  and 
the  devil   take   the   hindmost." 

Blaine  said,  "I  wish  to  speak  for  the  millions  of  all  political  parties,  and  in  their 
name  to  declare  that  the  Republic  must  be  strong  enough,  and  shall  be  strong  enough 
to  protect  the  weakest  of  its  citizens  in  all  their  rights."  Again  he  said,  "A  nation  is  a 
home  in  theory."  Once  more  he  said,  "As  with  a  family,  so  with  a  nation,  the  same 
instinct  of  self-preservation  exists,  the  same  right  to  prefer  the  interests  of  our  own 
people,  the  same  duty  to  exclude  that  which  is  corrupting  and  dangerous  to  the  Republic." 

The  words  of  ex-President  Harrison  come  to  us  at  this  juncture  with  appalling  force 
"A  government  is  made  strong  and  effective  both  for  internal  and  foreign  uses,  by  the 
intelligent  affection  of  its  citizens.     A  true  allegiance  must  have  its  root  in  love." 

Now,  the  man  who,  from  misfortune,  incompetency,  or  other  cause,  cannot  provide 
himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him  with  the  comforts,  or  even  the  necessaries  of  life, 
is  not  in  deep  or  overwhelming  love  with  his  surroundings  nor  with  the  country  in  which 
he  lives,  especially  when  he  believes  that  government  might  help  him  in  his  condition, 
but  sees  that  no  positive  effort  is  put  forth  in  his  behalf.  Such  a  man  cannot  be  expected 
to  be  much  of  a  patriot.  Judge  Trumbull  said  in  Chicago,  "The  existing  conflict  between 
capital  and  labor  has  its  foundation  in  unjust  laws  enabling  the  few  to  accumulate  vast 
estates  and  live  in  luxurious  ease,  while  the  great  masses  are  doomed  to  incessant  toil, 
penury  and  want.  What  is  needed  is  the  removal  of  the  cause  which  permits  the  accumu- 
lation of  the  wealth  of  the  country  in  a  few  hands  and  this  can  only  be  brought  peace- 
ably about  by  a  change  of  the  laws  of  property." 

.A  recent  work  on  criminology  states  that  the  United  States  expends  an  annual  sum 
of  $59,000,000.00  on  judiciary,  police,  prisons  and  reformatories,  and  that  crime  is  on 
the  increase  out  of  proportion  to  the  increase  of  population.  The  ratio  of  prisoners  to 
population  was  1  to  3,442  in  1850.  and  1  to  757  in  1890.  It  further  states  that  52.6 
per  cent  of  the  inmates  of  the  New  York  State  Reformatory  come  from  homes  which  are 
positively  bad,  while  7.6  per  cent  come  from  homes  which  are  positively  good.  In  1910 
the  population  in  the  United  States  was  91,972,266;  the  same  year  the  criminals  were 
5,000,000,  or  I  to  183.  While  the  population  of  Saxony,  Belgium  and  England  amounts 
to  more  than  400  to  the  square  mile,  and  while  that  of  Italy,  Japan,  and  Germany  is 
more  than  200,  and  while  France,  Austria,  India  and  China  are  very  much  more  than 
100  per  square  mile,  the  United  States  of  America  is  only  32  and  Mexico  only  12  to  the 
square  mile.  It  is  said,  too,  that  seven-eights  of  our  arable  lands  are  not  under  culti- 
vation, and  a  much  larger  portion  of  our  mineral  wealth  is  undeveloped. 

You  will  excuse  me  for  saying  so  much,  but  your  faithful  and  enthusiastic  presen- 
tation of  the  splendid  things  being  done  in  Equitania  led  me  to  this  outburst  concerning 
our  own  country,  which  might  so  easily  do  these  things,  and  yet  neglects  her  magnificent 
opportunities." 

Robert — Mr.  Smart's  remarks  are  only  too  true,  and  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  that 
the  plan  you  have  outlined  in  Equitania  is  working  so  well  there  where  these  principles 
are  put  to  a  practical  test,  for  that  after  all  is  the  only  way  to  ascertain  whether  or  not 
a  fine  and  beautiful  theory  is  well  founded. 


HELP  FOR  THE   UNEMPLOYED  55 

But  now  what  about  their  use  of  the  ballot?  We  hear  a  good  deal  in  these  days 
of  universal  suffrage,  or  the  injustice  done  to  women  by  withholding  from  them  the 
right  to  vote.  What  is  done  in  Equitania  upon  this  question  and  why  do  they  take 
such  stand?  What  is  the  basis  of  their  action  in  a  country  which  prides  itself  upon 
equity  for  all  and  injustice  or  favor  to  none? 

Horace — This  is  rather  a  large  question,  and  perhaps  it  is  too  late  to  enter  upon 
its  discussion  tonight;  but  I  may  say  very  briefly  and  for  your  encouragement,  that  they 
have  settled  this  question  in  what  seems  to  me  a  very  satisfactory  manner,  and  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  peace  and  happiness  to  the  Equitanians  as  a  whole,  and  if  you  will 
come  to  me  again  one  week  from  tonight,  after  my  return  from  a  little  trip  I  must  take 
to  an  adjoining  city,  I  will  give  you  in  detail  their  plan  and  their  line  of  argument. 

Sylvester — I  cannot  say  good  night  without  assuring  you  of  my  pleasure  with  this 
interview  and  hoping  that  we  shall  have  the  privilege  of  pursuing  the  inquiry  further  at 
the  set  time  next  week. 


CHAPTER  IV. 


WOMAN'S  SUFFRAGE,  WHO  SHALL  VOTE  AND  WHY,  WITH  OTHER 

ALLIED  QUESTIONS. 

Sylvester — Good  evening,  Horace,  meet  my  friend.  Rev.  David  Jones,  whom  I 
have  been  telHng  about  Equitania,  and  he  urged  me  to  bring  him  along  and  present 
him  to  you  with  the  hope  that  you  would  allow  him  to  listen  and  make  some  inquiry 
about  this  country  which  seems  so  ideal. 

Horace — I  am  pleased  to  meet  you  Mr.  Jones,  and  hope  you  will  be  seated  and 
feel  free  to  make  such  inquiries,  suggestions  or  criticism  as  may  occur  to  you.  What 
has  become  of  your  friend  Robert?  I  thought  he  would  surely  be  on  hand  tonight.  0! 
here  he  is  now.  How  are  you,  Robert.  Glad  to  see  you  again.  Meet  Rev.  David  Jones, 
who  has  come  to  join  our  party  for  the  evening  at  least. 

Robert — Good  evening,  Mr.  Jones.  I  am  delighted  to  meet  you  as  a  friend  of 
Sylvester,  and  as  one  interested  in  this  strange  land,  which  seems  like  a  dream  or  fairy 
land  as  I  hear  of  it. 

Horace — I  promised  to  tell  you  about  the  question  of  suffrage,  and  allied  subjects, 
with  the  basic  principles  upon  which  the  Equitanians  conceive  them  to  rest.  They  say, 
in  answer  to  the  question.  What  is  and  should  be  the  highest  aim  and  the  noblest 
ambition  of  every  human  being?  It  is  to  fill  the  place  in  life  for  which  he  was  intended 
It  is  to  fit  properly  into  the  place  he  was  designed  to  fill.  It  is  to  achieve  the  object  of 
his  creation. 

If  therefore  the  universe  is  governed  by  law  in  its  minutest  detail,  and  if  all  of  these 
laws  are  emanations  from,  and  direct  expressions  of  the  will  of  Jehovah,  the  All-wise 
and  Infinite  Being  who  rules  the  universe  as  its  Supreme  Intelligence,  then  it  must  follow 
that  He  has  a  plan  for  each  and  every  human  being.  And  not  the  less,  but  rather  more 
that  we  are  intelligent  beings,  the  more  truly  are  we  governed  by  law,  than  even  the 
inanimate  world  about  us;  but  differing  from  all  lower  forms  of  life  and  the  insensate 
things  of  the  universe,  rocks,  etc.,  we  may  learn  the  laws  of  our  being  and  choose 
to  be  governed  by  them,  and  thus  bring  our  lives  into  harmony  with  the  plan  of  our 
creation,  and  hence  with  the  entire  universe,  or  we  may  choose  a  different  course  and 
be  antagonistic  to  and  out  of  harmony  with  that  plan,  and  therefore  out  of  harmony  with 
the  universe. 

Obedience  to  law  brings  harmony  with  the  law-giver  and  with  the  system  in  operation 
under  those  laws.  This  is  not  only  true  in  mechanics  and  science,  but  in  politics,  gov- 
ernment and  morals,  as  well  as  religion.  The  more  perfect  the  machine,  the  science, 
the  government,  the  society,  and  the  religion,  the  more  perfect  is  the  harmony  when 
every  part  is  obedient  to  the  laws  of  such  machine  or  system;  and  per  contra,  the 
greater  the  discord,  where  disobedience  to  such  laws  prevail.  Now  equity  and  justice 
mean  adequate  punishment  to  those  intelligent  beings  who  willfully  keep  up  discord 
and  prevent  harmony  between  the  rightful  law-giver  and  his  subjects. 

Is  it  not  the  duty,  should  it  not  be  the  pleasure  and  aim  of  every  citizen  to  promote 
equity  and  justice  between  his  fellows  and  the  Supreme  Authority? 

From  the  laborer  in  the  most  menial  service,  up  through  the  skilled  mechanic, 
artisan,  business  and  professional  man,  on  to  the  statesman  and  ruler,  it  ought  to  be  the 
aim  of  every  one  to  promote  justice  and  fair  dealing  among  all  classes  of  men.  It  is 
legitimate,  right  and  proper,  yea,  even  obligatory,  upon  each  to  make  an  honest  living 
for  himself  and  those  dependent  upon  him,  so  that  they  may  live  with  the  necessities 
and  comforts  of  life  to  which  they  are  rightly  accustomed.  Whatever  effort  goes  beyond 
this  in  providing  for  one's  own  is  selfish  and  may  be  wholly  wrong.  So  that  we  may 
rightly  say  that  every  man  should  first  seek  to  earn  an  adequate  and  honest  living  for 
himself  and  his  dependents  in  any  legitimate  calling  he  may  choose,  after  which  he  may 
rightly  use  his  time,  talents  or  money,  in  any  proper  manner  he  sees  fit;   but  the  more 

(57) 


58  EQUITAXIA.   OK   TIIK    LAND   OF   EgUlTY 

he  uses  these  to  promote  the  welfare  of  his  fellowmen  the  more  marked  will  be  his 
philanthropy,  and  the  more  will  he  be  a  benefactor  to  the  race. 

On  the  other  hand  we  cannot  allow  it  to  be  a  legitimate  claim  that  a  man  must  live, 
and  therefore  that  is  his  first  concern;  to  live,  no  matter  by  what  means,  either  fair  or 
foul;  for  this  assumption  is  false,  and  therefore  any  argument  based  upon  it  is  false, 
and  its  logical  conclusions  are  equally  false.  True,  a  man  ought  to  live,  and  earn  by 
proper  means  his  sustenance;  but  it  were  better  to  die  than  live  by  wrong,  and  at  the 
loss  of  honor.  Let  us  have  life,  and  peace  if  possible,  with  honor,  right  and  justice; 
but  better  war  and  death,  if  honor  and  virtue  must  be  sacrificed  to  avert  these. 

Every  human  being  of  age,  and  intelligence  sufficient  to  be  accountable  for  his 
acts,  is  daily  building  character,  and  this  he  must  do  whether  he  chooses  it  or  not;  but 
to  live  or  make  a  living  is  not  obligatory,  and  one  can  even  refuse  to  live,  or  make  a 
living,  unless  they  can  be  gained  with  honor,  integrity  and  uprightness.  And  this  is  a 
vital  principle  in  the  make-up  of  human  character  which  must  not  be  ignored,  or  we  can 
never  have  a  genuine  basis  upon  which  to  build  a  character  that  will  stand  the  test  of 
eternity.  To  die  right  is  better  than  to  live  wrong.  To  die  rather  than  do  wrong  is  better, 
grander,  more  heroic,  and  more  divine  than  to  live  by  doing  wrong.  Few  of  the  race 
have  been  called  upon  to  face  so  trying  an  ordeal  as  this,  but  those  who  have,  and  have 
stood  the  test,  are  given  the  martyr's  crown  by  a  willing  humanity,  and  I  doubt  not  all 
such  have  their  names  written  in  the  Lamb's  book  of  life. 

Let  it  then  be  admitted  once  for  all,  that  the  most  important  thing  in  every  man's 
life  is  to  do  the  right;  or  to  put  it  differently,  to  live  in  obedience  to  the  supreme  law, 
to  obey  God,  to  live  according  to  the  laws  of  his  being  as  ordained  by  God.  "Behold 
to  obey  is  better  than  sacrifice,  and  to  hearken  than  the  fat  of  rams."  Nothing  can  take 
the  place  of  obedience,  nothing  can  be  a  substitute  for,  or  just  as  good  as  obedience. 
Obedience  to  God  is  harmony  with  Him,  and  harmony  with  His  plan  and  with  His 
universe;  while  on  the  other  hand,  disobedience  to  God  brings  inevitable  discord  with 
Him,  His  plan,  and  with  the  universe,  which  is  all  under  His  control.  He  is  the  center 
of  all  power,  and  to  be  out  of  harmony  with  Him  necessarily  makes  one  a  misfit,  a 
discord  and  a  cause  of  offense  in  his  plan  and  in  His  universe.  He  Himself  acts  according 
to  law  and  well  settled  fundamental  principles,  and  He  promulgates  the  laws  of  the 
iniverse  according  to  which  all  things  are  done  in  the  minutest  details.  Therefore  to 
learn  what  these  laws  are  and  then  observe  or  obey  them,  brings  its  own  reward,  which  is 
peace  or  harmony,  or  abiding  happiness. 

1 .  All  law  to  be  effective  must  be  founded  upon  justice  and  have  back  of  it  the 
necessary  physical  force  to  ensure  its  enforcement,  in  any  and  every  emergency,  and 
therefore  women  should  not  be  called  upon  to  vote,  hold  office,  nor  take  a  public 
part  in  the  affairs  of  state;  as  they  have  not  the  physical  force  necessary  to,  and 
because  they  are  not  intended  for,  the  physical  enforcement  of  the  laws  which  may 
be  essential  in  civil  government. 

2.  Woman  has  a  special  and  honorable  sphere  all  her  own,  and  protected  by 
natural,  insuperable  barriers  which  precludes  the  possibility  of  her  rightly  filling  this 
place,  if  she  takes  upon  herself  the  duties  of  state,  and  that  is  wife,  motherhood  and 
home-maker. 

3.  Not  only  have  these  natural  physical  barriers  been  raised  and  the  Divine 
architect  has  apparently  fitted  woman  peculiarly  as  the  mother,  home-maker  and 
builder  of  men;  but  He  has  said  by  Paul,  Eph.  5:22-24.  "Wives,  submit  yourselves 
unto  your  husbands  as  unto  the  Lord.  For  the  husband  is  the  head  of  the  wife, 
even  as  Christ  is  the  head  of  the  Church;  and  he  is  the  savior  of  the  body.  There- 
fore as  the  Church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  be  to  their  own  husbands 
in  everything."  Col.  3:18,  "Wives,  submit  yourselves  unto  your  husbands,  as  it 
is  fit  in  the  Lord;"  and  Titus  2:4,  5,  "That  ye  may  teach  the  young  women  to  be 
sober,  to  love  their  husbands,  to  love  their  children,"  and  through  Peter,  8  Pet. 
3:  I,  5.  6,  "Likewise,  ye  wives,  be  in  subjection  to  your  own  husbands;  that,  if 
any  obey  not  the  word,  they  also  may  without  the  word  be  won  by  the  conversation 
of  the  wives;  for  after  this  manner  in  the  old  time  the  holy  women  also,  who 
trusted  in  God,  adorned  themselves,  being  in  subjection  unto  their  own  husbands. 
Even  as  Sarah  obeyed  Abraham,  calling  him  Lord;  whose  daughters  ye  are,  as 
long  as  ye  do  well,  and  are  not  afraid  with  any  amazement."     Which  ought  to  be 


WOMAN'S  TRUE   PLACE   THE   HOME  59 

conclusive  enough  for  those  who  beUeve  that  these  men  spake  as  divinely  inspired, 
and  gave  us  the  plan  of  the  Almighty  for  woman's  sphere  and  place  of  greatest 
usefulness  and  highest  honor.  Of  course  those  who  think  a  sneer  a  sufficient  sub- 
stitute for  an  answer  to  an  unanswerable  argument,  as  so  many  do  who  try  to  make 
it  appear  that  Paul  was  only  a  crabbed  old  bachelor  and  didn't  know  at  all  what 
was  best  for  either  man  or  woman  this  will  not  do,  and  with  such  I  have  no  further 
contention. 

4.  Since  woman  is  to  be  the  helpmeet,  or  help-mate  of  man,  she  should  not 
in  any  sense  become  his  competitor;  and  the  moment  she  branches  out  into  the 
realm  of  politics,  business  and  state-craft,  she  perforce  assumes  this  role,  and  there- 
fore she  should  neither  seek  nor  have  it. 

5.  People  do  not  pay  taxes  for  the  privilege  of  voting,  making  laws,  or  holding 
office;  but  for  the  support  of  government  in  order  that  the  subjects  may  be  pro- 
tected in  their  property,  their  rights,  and  their  lives,  therefore  the  argument  that 
women  pay  taxes  and  hence  are  entitled  to  vote  is  based  upon  a  false  assumption 
and  has  no  foundation  in  fact.  The  right,  privilege  and  power  to  vote  is  based  upon 
the  fact  that  those  who  do  vote  are  empowered  to  and  assume  the  obligations  of 
making  and  enforcing  all  laws  necessary  for  the  proper  conduct  of  government, 
and  the  equitable  protection  of  the  rights  of  all  the  people  who  live  under  the 
government,  without  regard  to  sex,  age,  or  condition. 

To  say  that  many  women  who  have  large  property  interests  and  pay  heavy  taxes, 
but  being  women  are  not  allowed  to  vote,  and  are  not  duly  considered  in  the  making  of 
laws,  and  their  property  interests,  therefore,  are  not  adequately  protected,  is  no  argument 
in  favor  of  their  suffrage  for  they  are  not  discriminated  against  as  a  class  of  female 
property  holders,  for  many  men  of  equal  or  greater  wealth,  although  with  the  power  of 
voting,  find  the  very  same  difficulty  and  few  men  there  are  who  feel  that  the  laws  are 
always  fairly  made  and  equitably  administered,  even  toward  themselves,  and  yet  men 
make,  interpret  and  execute  them.  So  that  such  a  line  of  argument  would  obtain  against 
all  voters.  But  so  long  as  man  is  fallible  and  selfish,  this  state  of  affairs  will  obtain 
whether  women  vote  or  not. 

Two  recent  writers  of  note  have  so  well  said  some  things  in  support  of  this  position 
that  I  take  great  pleasure  in  quoting  from  them.  The  first  is  that  by  Mrs.  Aymie  Martin- 
dale,  of  Hamburg,  Germany,  an  English  woman  of  unusual  ability  in  an  article  in  Leslie's 
upon  the  subject,  "Women  in  the  World's  Market,"  who  very  wisely  says: 

"Worst  competition  of  all  is  that  which  has  recently  crept  into  the  market 
between  men  and  women.  It  is  the  most  fatal  mistake  for  woman  to  enter  the 
world's  market,  only  to  try  and  rival  man  in  his  financial  speculations,  mechanical 
inventions,  scientific  investigations,  industrial  occupations,  artistic  creations,  abstruse 
studies,  navigation,  agriculture,  commerce  or  anythng  in  which  man  is  bound  to 
excel  her. 

"Woman's  failure  to  take  and  keep  the  post  assigned  to  her  (not  by  man,  but 
by  nature)  is  really  the  sole  cause  why  the  world  market  today  is  a  place  over 
which  men  and  angels  may  well  weep.  Woman  is  to  blame  for  its  moral  contagion, 
for  the  vast  multitudes  of  criminals,  lunatics,  imbeciles,  diseased,  deformed  and 
incapable  persons  that  overcrowd  every  portion  of  it  and  poison  the  whole  atmo- 
sphere; for  its  hideous  traffic  in  white  slaves  and  the  equally  abhorrent  matrimonial 
sales  (though  the  latter  may  be  legalized  by  the  consent  of  parents  and  ecclesiastical 
benedictions),  for  the  frightful  thriving  of  Mrs.  Warren's  body-and-soul-destroying 
profession,  for  the  cruel  martyrdom  inflicted  on  Httle  children  and  helpless  men, 
for  the  abominations  revealed  in  divorce  courts,  for  the  fiendish  inhumanities  of 
war,  for  betraying  the  kingdom  of  home  into  the  hands  of  its  enemies,  for  the 
degrading  wrangling  in  the  market  place  between  the  sexes,  for  the  absence  of 
health,  peace,  joy,  self-reverence  and  self-control  throughout  the  market. 

"It  is  woman's  potential  motherhood  which  practically  gave  to  her,  and  not 
to  man,  the  sovereignty  of  the  market.  The  succession  is  strictly  confined  to  the 
female  line.  And  woman  stands  in  the  market  not  to  pander  to  her  own  or  any 
man's  lusts,  not  to  amuse  herself  in  Vanity  Fair,  not  to  degrade  her  womanhood  by 


(K)  EQUITANIA,   OH  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

countenacing  either  directly  or  indirectly  Mrs.  Warren's  profession,  but  as  a  maker 
of  men. 

"Let  men  make  ships,  aeroplanes,  houses,  gardens,  pyramids,  or  any  of  the 
wonders  of  the  world;  it  takes  a  woman  to  make  a  man!  For  nine  months,  minute 
by  minute  she  must  continue  her  work,  consciously  or  unconsciously,  by  night  and 
day;  and,  though  hundreds  of  outward  influences  are  brought  to  bear  upon  her  work, 
she  carries  it  on  without  halt  or  hesitation,  in  silence,  in  stillness,  in  darkness.  And  all 
the  time  that  she  is  actively  moulding,  by  her  thoughts,  words,  and  deeds,  the  mind, 
the  body,  the  heart  of  a  man,  she  is  unable  to  see  or  test  the  value,  or  the  worth- 
lessness  of  the  being  she  is  producing.  She  is  'socially  responsible  for  her  choice 
of  a  right  father  for  her  child' — much  will  depend  on  him  for  the  success  of  her 
task;  but  the  task  of  making  a  human  being  strong,  healthy,  perfect  inwardly  and 
outwardly,  morally  and  physically,  is  hers  alone  and  cannot  be  deputed  to  any  man. 

"The  sore  evils  that  exist  in  the  world  market  are  due  to  the  women  who  are 
guiltily  blind  to  the  infinite  possibilities,  the  awful  responsibilities,  the  inalienable 
rights  conferred  on  them  by  potential  motherhood.  It  is  they  who  cheapen  the  price 
of  really  good  work  in  the  market  by  disdaining  what  is  most  useful  to  mankind  and 
by  tempting  men  to  squander  millions  in  purchasing  the  meretricious  and  tawdry 
things  that  most  women  covet.  Such  women  surely  operate  as  'a  most  deadly 
check  to  true  industry  and  true  art.'  It  is  women  themselves  who  place  woman's 
work  on  an  entirely  wrong  basis  and  encourage  the  foolish  idea  that  women  come 
into  the  world  as  paupers  and  beggars,  entirely  dependent  on  men.  They  are,  in  fact, 
too  richly  endowed  by  Nature  to  be  either  the  one  or  the  other.  A  woman  can  and 
ought  to  earn  her  own  living  as  truly  and  independently  as  any  man,  but  not  by 
becoming  a  wife,  a  concubine,  a  harlot,  a  child  bearer,  or  that  plaything  of  man's 
which  is  so  expressively  described  in  the  German  language  by  the  word  'Genussmittel.' 

"A  woman  is  left  by  nature  as  free  as  man  to  choose  her  own  vocation  and 
sphere  of  labor,  with  this  limitation,  that  she  neither  forsakes  her  kingdom  nor 
irreverently  ignores  her  potential  motherhood.  For  the  latter  involves  the  prob- 
ability of  her  being  asked  to  willingly  undertake  the  fashioning  of  a  human  being, 
to  improve  the  whole  race.  It  will  then  be  her  holiest  and  happiest  task — over- 
shadowed by  the  power  of  the  Highest — to  work  out  a  little  more  of  man's  ape  and 
tiger  ancestors,  to  elevate  humanity  and  eliminate  from  it  all  that  is  vile.  For  this 
task  she  needs,  first  of  all,  a  strong,  healthy,  beautiful  body.     As  Tennyson  sings: 

"  *If  she  be  small,  slight-natured,  miserable,  how  shall  men  grow?' 

"This  body  can  be  hers  only  if  her  own  mother  has  obeyed  Nature's  laws  of 
health  and  reproduction.  From  the  day  of  this  body's  appearance  in  the  world,  the 
work  of  developing,  training  and  educating  all  its  faculties  must  be  carried  on  for 
at  least  two  years  by  woman,  and  surely  this  work  should  represent  a  value  in  the 
market  second  only  to  woman's  pre-natal  work.  As  the  first  and  final  educator, 
she  outwardly  molds  what  she  has  inwardly  made. 

"But  what  becomes  of  this  work  while  women  are  endeavoring  to  ape  men  in 
the  market?  The  enormous  percentage  of  infant  mortality  and  the  diseased, 
deformed  state  of  mankind  answer  this  question.  Finally,  for  the  flourishing  growth 
and  development  of  children,  a  healthy,  beautiful  home  is  indispensable.  That  also 
needs  the  best  creative  skill  of  a  woman.  There  is  practically  no  field  of  woman's 
labor  that  covers  such  an  extensive  and  diversified  area  as  the  kingdom  of  home. 
It  affords  scope  for  the  exercise  of  every  womanly  energy,  so  that  the  limitation  of 
woman's  work  to  the  kingdom  of  home  is  purely  nominal.  Practically  it  gives  her 
the  most  cosmopolitan  tastes  in  the  world  and  inexhaustible  sources  of  interest  and 
occupation  all  over  the  surface  of  the  globe,  for  woman's  kingdom  embraces  the 
whole  earth  and  all  that  is  therein.  But  she  must  reign  in  it  as  queen — never,  never, 
sink  to  be  an  eleemosynary,  a  hireling,  a  dependent  on  man's  bounty. 

"Nothing  has  wrought  more  mischief  in  the  world's  market  than  the  untrue, 
mistaken  supposition  on  the  part  of  man  that  the  giving  of  his  name  to  a  woman, 
the  making  her  the  mother  of  his  children,  gives  him  a  right  to  all  she  can  do  or  be, 
without  giving  anything  in  exchange  except  what  his  own  will  or  caprice  suggests. 
She  has  a  right  to  have  her  exchequer  royally  filled  not  with  alms,  not  with  wages, 
but  with  the  full  marketable  value  of  the  work  she  does  for  man — work  he  cannot 


WOMAN'S  TRUE  PLACE   THE  HOME  61 

do  for  her  or  himself  or  his  children.  A  girl  properly  born,  brought  up  and  educated 
to  be  a  queen-mother,  the  sovereign  of  home,  is  made  to  stand  in  the  world's  market 
and  beg  man  to  let  her  do  his  work,  and  for  a  wage  he  himself  scorns  to  accept. 

"But  if  women,  called  to  exercise  sovereign  rights  over  mankind  and  really 
holding  the  characters,  the  virtues  and  vices,  the  health  and  disease  of  all  men  in 
their  power,  will  allow  vice  to  be  paid  for  more  highly  than  virtue,  and  will  join 
with  men  in  allowing  mothers,  nurses,  governesses,  teachers,  cooks,  housemaids, 
seamstresses  and  all  other  bona-fide  female  workers  to  be  worse  paid  than  court- 
esans, who  is  to  blame  but  woman  herself?' 

The  second  is  from  the  editorial  page  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal,  as  follows: 

"She  was  a  dashing  young  modern  mother  of  three  children,  and  she  said: 
'Really,  I  don't  see  why  a  mother  should  be  so  terribly  concerned  about  her  children. 
Their  development  is  mostly  a  matter  of  heredity  anyway,  and  what  I  do  won't 
make  much  difference.  My  real  life  is  with  my  husband,  and  their  real  lives  will 
be  with  their  husbands  and  wives.  I  think  people  ought  to  live  their  own  lives.  It 
is  very  foolish  for  a  mother  to  sacrifice  herself  too  much  for  her  children.'  A 
dear  old  lady  who  had  lived  a  very  'real  life'  of  sacrifice  such  as  the  speaker  knew 
not  of,  who  had  reared  four  splendid,  successful  sons,  rose  from  her  chair  and  sat 
down  beside  the  younger  woman. 

"  'My  dear,'  she  said  in  a  gracious  tone,  'You  say  your  children's  development 
is  mostly  a  matter  of  heredity;  tell  me,  who  is  responsible  for  giving  them  that 
heredity?' 

"  'Why — I  suppose,'  she  hesitatingly  replied,  'I  suppose  we  are,  their  father 
and  I.' 

"'Exactly,'  said  the  older  woman;  'and  let  me  tell  you  something  about  that 
same  heredity.  It  is  nothing  in  the  world  but  clay  out  of  which  you  are  to  mold 
your  children's  characters.  Faults  and  weaknesses  are  only  heredity  gone  wrong; 
virtue  and  strength  are  merely  heredity  gone  right.  It  takes  but  the  turning  of  a 
hair  in  the  beginning  to  determine  whether  a  trait  shall  go  right  or  wrong.  Your 
real  life  is,  as  you  say,  with  your  husband;  but  the  only  real  life  for  either  you 
or  your  husband  is  in  your  children.  In  endeavoring  not  to  sacrifice  too  much 
take  care  my  dear,  lest  you  sacrifice  everything.' 

"  'And  your  plan  hcs  been?'  asked  the  young  mother,  for  she  well  knew  of  the 
standing  and  character  of  the  four  fine  sons  of  this  old  lady. 

"  'To  put  heredity  out  of  my  thoughts  on  the  day  that  each  of  my  children  was 
born,  and  to  pin  my  faith  solely  on  environment.  For,  believe  me,  there  are  few 
traits  of  character  that  cannot  be  traced  with  a  little  careful  study  to  some  environ- 
mental condition  as  a  cause,  and  there  is  almost  none  that  cannot  be  modified  and 
corrected  by  skillful  management  of  the  child's  surroundings." 

Another  editorial  in  the  same  number  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Journal  is  as  follows: 

"The  woman  who  deliberately  chooses  a  public  life,  who  stands  before  audi- 
ences and  speaks  eloquently  of  'woman's  broader  sphere'  who  sometimes  seems 
to  the  domestic  woman  to  be  'doing  things'  in  the  great  world,  in  comparison  to 
which  her  own  world  seems  restricted,  may  for  the  moment  win  our  applause,  and 
by  her  arguments,  cleverly  phrased,  make  us  wonder.  But  one  fact  remains 
Divinely  potent:  few  human  beings — men  or  women — deliberately  renounce  the 
blessedness  of  normal  life.  Most  women,  nearly  all  women,  are  at  heart  mothers; 
an  inscrutable  Providence  has  made  them  so.  While  they  have  youth,  or  while 
ambition  remains  later  in  life,  they  may  be  able  to  hide  the  fact.  But  one  experience 
is  the  confessed  experience  of  all  such  women;  that  as  the  years  pass  life  loses  many 
of  the  interests  which  once  were  deemed  potent,  and  the  childless  woman  finds  it  fear- 
fully hollow  and  empty  at  the  end.  Then  it  is  that  she  looks  back  and  envies  her  sister 
who  accepted  a  woman's  normal  life,  and  who,  with  a  womanly  spirit,  has  found, 
deep  planted  in  her  mother-heart  and  growing  with  her  mother-love,  a  capacity,  that 
makes  the  most  glorious  career  seem  a  mere  triviality. 

"  'Yes,'  said  Frances  E.  Willard,  only  a  few  months  before  she  passed  away, 
to  a  friend  who  was  complimenting  her  on  the  work  she  had  accomplished  in  the 


02  EQUITAXIA.   ()l{   THK    I. AND   OF   EQUITY 

world,  'and  if  I  had  it  to  do  over  again  I  would  exchange  it  all  for  a  pair  of  baby 
arms.     That,'  she  concluded,  as  her  eyes  filled,  'is  normal  for  a  woman.' 

"Why,  then,  I  say,  should  vvomen  even  want  to  vote,  for  already,  "The  hand  that 
rocks  the  cradle  rules  the  world." 

Augustine  in  his  "City  of  God"  gives  the  following  as  an  illustration  of  the  ancient 
idea  of  the  futility  of  woman's  suffrage,  and  indicates  the  proper  place  of  woman  in 
society. 

"Of  the  name  Athens,  Varro  gives  this  reason:  An  olive  tree  grew  suddenly 
up  in  one  place  and  a  fountain  burst  out  as  suddenly  in  another.  These  prodigies 
drew  the  king  to  Delphos,  to  know  the  oracle's  mind,  which  answered  him  that  the 
olive  tree  signified  Minerva,  and  the  fountain,  Neptune,  and  that  the  city  might  elect 
after  which  of  these  they  pleased  to  name  their  city.  Hereupon  Cecrops  gathered  all 
the  people  of  both  sexes  together  (for  then  it  was  the  custom  in  that  place  to  call 
the  woman  into  consultations  also)  to  give  their  voices  in  this  election,  the  men 
being  for  Neptune  and  the  women  for  Mmerva;  and  the  women  bemg  more,  won 
the  day  for  Minerva.  At  this  Neptune  being  angry,  overflowed  all  the  Athenians' 
lands  (for  the  devils  may  draw  the  waters  which  way  they  list)  and  to  appease  him, 
the  Athenian  women  had  a  triple  penalty  set  on  their  heads.  First,  they  must 
never  hereafter  have  a  vote  in  council.  Second,  never  hereafter  be  called  Athenians; 
third,  nor  ever  leave  their  name  unto  their  children.  Thus  this  ancient  and  goodly 
city,  the  only  mother  of  arts  and  learned  inventions,  the  glory  and  luster  of  Greece, 
by  a  scoff  of  the  devils  in  a  contention  of  their  gods,  a  male  and  a  female,  and  by 
a  feminine  victory  obtained  by  women,  was  enstyled  Athens,  after  the  female's 
name  that  was  victor,  Minerva." 

Sylvester — Do  you  mean  for  us  to  infer,  then,  that  women  are  inferior  to  men,  and 
that  for  this  reason  they  should  not  vote? 

Horace — By  no  means.  It  is  not  a  question  of  superiority  or  inferiority,  but  of  doing 
the  work  to  which  one  is  assigned  by  nature's  laws.  It  is  the  question  of  filling  the  place 
in  life  to  which  one  is  essentially  fitted  by  nature.  You  would  not  say  the  canary  bird 
with  its  brilliant  plumage,  its  charming,  inspiring  and  thrilling  song,  is  inferior  to  the 
lion  and  thus  decide  for  the  King  of  Beasts!  Each  has  its  own  sphere  in  the  animal 
kingdom,  and  in  its  place  is  supreme.  Each  in  obedience  to  the  laws  of  its  being  fills 
its  place  best.  Any  attempt  on  the  part  of  one  to  occupy  the  place  of  the  other  and 
assume  prerogatives  by  usurpation  belonging  peculiarly  to  the  former  must  result  in 
dismal  failure,  because  in  violation  of  nature's  supreme  law." 

Robert — How  about  the  men  who  vote?  Do  they  have  any  particuliar  standard  of 
excellence,  or  special   requirements   for  them? 

Horace — Yes,  I  have  previously  referred  to  that,  but  I  may  here  make  it  plainer. 

1.  All  voters  must  be  men,  and  each  voter  is  entitled  to  vote,  as  follows: 

2.  They  must  be  citizens  by  birth  or  naturalization. 

3.  They  must  be  twenty-one  or  more  years  of  age. 

4.  They  must  not  be  criminals  nor  dependents. 

5.  They  must  be  able  to  read,  write  and  speak  intelligently  in  the  English 
language.  Of  course  in  the  very  beginning  of  this  country,  in  fact  until  1870,  the 
four  languages  were  recognized  as  official,  but  since  that  time  all  have  agreed  to 
these  conditions. 

To  enlarge  a  little  upon  the  question  before  us,  let  me  read  you  part  of  an  address 
given  before  a  graduating  class  of  nurses  at  one  of  their  hospitals,  by  a  well-known 
citizen  there,  which  address  was  widely  quoted  by  the  papers  as  expressing  an  opinion 
generally  approved  by  the  people: 

"Mr.  Chairman,  Superintendent  of  Nurses,  Young  Ladies  of  the  Graduating  Class, 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen : 

"We  used  to  hear  a  great  deal  some  years  ago  of  the  call  of  God  to  men  who 
entered  the  ministry.  But  I  want  to  assure  you  that  whilst  I  believe  that  God  calls 
young  men  to  enter  the  ministry,  I  do  not  believe  that,  any  stronger  than  I  believe 
that  he  calls  every  human  being  to  some  definite  and  useful  place  in  life.     In  short 


MOTHERHOOD  THE   SUPREME   DELIGHT  63 

there  is  a  mission  for  every  one,  and  it  is  our  duty  as  intelligent  beings  to  find  the 
place  for  which  we  are  fitted  and  then  fill  it. 

"Every  flower  that  blooms  in  the  valley;  every  tree  that  crowns  the  hill  tops; 
every  fish  that  swims  the  sea;  every  bird  that  flies  the  air;  every  beast  that  roams 
the  forests,  and  every  man  that  treads  the  earth,  has  a  place  to  fill,  has  a  mission  to 
perform,  is  a  part  of  the  divine  economy,  and  is  under  the  care  of  the  All  Wise  and 
loving  Father.  This  is  not  a  world  of  chance  or  accident;  but  was  brought  into 
existence  and  is  sustained,  by  the  intelligent  being  whom  we  call  God.  He  holds 
us  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand,  and  has  a  place  for  every  human  life. 

"  'Behold  the  lillies  of  the  valley,  how  they  grow,  they  toil  not,  neither  do  they 
spin,  and  yet  I  say  unto  you  that  even  Solomon  in  all  his  glory  was  not  arrayed 
like  one  of  these.  Wherefore  if  God  so  clothe  the  grass  of  the  field  which  today  is, 
and  tomorrow  is  cast  into  the  oven,  how  much  more  shall  He  clothe  you,  0,  ye  of 
little  faith!'  'Even  the  very  hairs  of  your  head  are  all  numbered,  and  not  a  sparrow 
falls  to  the  ground  without  the  Father's  kindly  notice.'  Therefore  have  no  fear, 
but  as  intelligent,  responsible  beings  find  the  place  assigned  you,  and  fill  it,  whether 
it  be  humble  or  exalted;  for  the  place  designed  for  you  is  worthy,  useful  and  impor- 
tant, because  of  Divine  appointment. 

"If  you  look  for  a  moment  to  the  fine  organization  of  our  Government,  you  will 
notice  there  is  a  mint  for  making  money  and  by  authority  of  the  government  stamping 
with  a  certain  value.  The  same  authority  and  place  that  makes  and  stamps  a  penny 
also  makes  and  stamps  a  twenty  dollar  gold  piece.  The  same  authority  makes  a  one 
dollar  bill,  and  each  is  made  for  a  specific  purpose  and  has  a  very  definite  place  to 
fill  in  the  business  world,  and  neither  one  can  take  the  place  of  the  other. 

"So  in  this  great  universe,  it  is  planned  with  greater  skill  and  more  Infinite 
wisdom  than  our  government,  so  that  each  intelligent  being  may  be  more  certain 
of  a  place  designed  for  him  to  fill  in  this  world  and  the  universe,  than  you  can  be 
that  the  penny,  the  twenty  dollar  old  piece,  or  the  one  dollar,  or  the  one  thousand 
dollar  bill,  has  a  place  in  the  business  world  today. 

"Have  you  ever  seen  a  great  ship  sail  out  of  her  harbor  with  all  its  crew, 
its  cargo  and  its  precious  human  lives  to  go  across  the  sea  and  land  in  some  foreign 
port?  Have  you  ever  stopped  to  think  who  is  it  (humanly  speaking)  that  makes 
that  majestic  vessel  ride  the  storm  and  plow  the  main,  until  after  the  strife  and 
stress  of  a  boisterous  voyage  of  ten  or  twelve  days,  she  rides  safely  into  port  with  all 
on  board?  Is  it  the  Captain,  the  Pilot,  the  man  m  the  Crow's  nest,  the  engineer  or 
the  stokers  at  the  engines?  No,  it  is  no  one  of  these,  nor  yet  all  of  them  combined; 
but  they  with  the  many  others,  the  entire  crew,  each  in  his  place  and  at  his  post  of 
duty,  co-operating  the  one  with  the  other,  and  all  working  together,  that  brings 
the   happy   result. 

"And  whilst  the  Almighty  is  not  dependent  like  the  Captain  of  the  ship,  upon 
each  man  doing  his  part,  still  it  is  no  less  true  that  He  has  a  plan  for  the  universe 
which  just  as  certainly  implies  a  place  for  each  of  us,  as  has  the  Captain  of  a  great 
vessel  a  place  for  every  man  in  his  crew. 

"Therefore  let  me  say  to  every  one  here  tonight,  find  the  place  designed  for 
you  in  order  to  do  your  part  in  the  world,  and  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  being 
happy,  which  is  the  proper  end  and  aim  of  every  human  being.  No  one  should 
ever  choose  a  calling  or  vocation  in  life  that  would  unfit  him  or  her  for  their 
highest  mission.  And  no  girl  should  ever  choose  a  work  or  engage  in  any  calling 
that  would  unfit  her  for  the  real  mission  or  sphere  of  her  sex,  the  highest  ideal  of 
womanhood. 

"This  leads  me  to  speak  of  some  of  the  proper  spheres  for  women;  and  I 
mention.  First,  Motherhood. 

"When  in  Italy  a  few  years  ago  I  visited  the  famous  Uffizi  Gallery  at  Florence 
and  saw  in  a  room  set  apart,  and  specially  designed  for  the  purpose,  the  world 
renowned  "Niobe  Group."  The  Greek  mythological  legend  is  that  Niobe  was  wife 
of  Amphion,  King  of  Thebes;  that  she  was  the  proud  and  happy  mother  of  fourteen 
children;  seven  sons  and  seven  daughters;  but  that  she  aroused  the  anger  and 
jealousy  of  Leota,  who  only  had  two  children,  Apollo  and  Artemus,  and  they  deter- 
mined to  allay  their  mother's  rage  through  the  slaughter  of  all  Niobe's  children. 


G4  EQUTTANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

This  cruel  and  monstrous  deed  was  done  by  shooting  them  down  with  invisible  darts, 
one  after  the  other,  before  their  mother's  eyes,  until  in  bitterness  of  soul  and  anguish 
of  heart  she  turned  into  a  veritable  statue  of  stone.  The  Greek  sculptor,  (probably) 
Praxitiles.  has  tried  to  depict  this  awful  scene  in  these  wonderful  marble  statues. 
So  here  in  the  gallery  we  have  the  Roman  copies  of  the  original,  and  ranged  on; 
either  side  of  the  room  are  the  life  sized  marble  statues  of  the  children  of  Niobe  as 
they  seek  to  flee  in  terror  from  the  shafts  of  the  angry  Gods.  While  in  the  end  of  the 
room  is  the  statue  of  Niobe  herself,  as  in  agony  of  soul  she  attempts  to  throw  the 
drapery  of  her  marble  veil  over  the  youngest  child  who  kneels  at  her  mother's  feet 
for  comfort  and  protection.  Here  stands  the  mother  fearless,  undaunted,  and  undis- 
mayed, though  helpless  to  defend  her  own. 

"But  again,  you  have  all  seen  one  or  more  of  the  Madonnas.  Every  great 
gallery  in  the  world  has  one  or  more  of  these  famous  original  paintings  as  an  impor- 
tant part  of  their  collection.  Almost  every  master  of  canvas  has  painted  one  or  more 
of  the  Madonnas.  No  other  subject  probably  has  been  so  frequently  used,  and 
perhaps  no  other  picture  is  so  widely  distributed  in  the  world  as  this,  and  all  for 
what?  In  honor  of  motherhood,  to  pay  tribute  and  reverence  to  motherhood.  Sculp- 
ture, painting  and  poetry  have  vied  with  one  another  to  honor  it.  Therefore  we 
do  well  to  pay  it  the  highest  regard. 

"Is  her  child  sick?  The  mother's  strength,  endurance,  and  untiring  devotion 
know  no  bounds,  but  seem  when  needed  to  be  almost  infinite.  Is  the  child  in  danger 
from  fire  or  flood?  The  mother  flees  not  from  the  terrors  of  the  one,  nor  the  raging 
of  the  other  until  her  child  is  safe.  Is  her  child  in  danger  from  wild  beast,  or  more 
savage  man?  Still  she  knows  no  fear,  but  calmly  folding  the  child  in  her  arms,  and 
pressing  it  to  her  bosom,  she  bids  defiance  to  them  both. 

"The  gentlest  and  the  strongest,  the  tenderest  and  the  bravest,  the  most  self- 
sacrificing  and  the  most  endearing  term  ever  applied  to  any  human  being  in  all 
languages,  in  every  age  and  clime  the  wide  world  round  is  that  which  stands  for 
mother. 

"It  is  therefore  but  natural  and  right  that  every  woman  should  aspire  for  this 
high  ideal,  because  nearest  the  Divine. 

"In  passing,  however,  I  cannot  refrain  from  saying  how  much  I  honor  those 
wives,  who  for  good  and  sufficient  reasons  never  become  mothers,  but  whose  lives 
are  filled  with  usefulness  and  service  to  the  world  in  other  directions.  Nor  would  I 
be  true  to  my  convictions  if  I  failed  to  commend  in  the  highest  terms  those  noble 
women  who  all  their  lives  remain  single  and  fill  other  useful  places  rather  than 
marry  a  man  who  is  unworthy  to  be  the  father  of  their  children,  or  a  fit  example 
for  their  sons  to  follow. 

"In  the  next  place  let  me  speak  of  Teaching,  as  another  useful  and  most  honor- 
able sphere  for  women.  The  teacher  because  of  her  position  and  her  work  in  molding 
the  citizenship  and  training  the  minds  of  those  who  are  to  control  the  destinies  of 
the  nation,  and  because  of  the  importance  of  the  lives  and  souls  of  those  whom  she 
teaches,  holds  an  exalted  and  responsible  position  for  which  she  should  be  held  in 
high  esteem,  and  be  counted  worthy  of  great  honor  when  she  faithfully  does  her 
duty. 

"When  a  boy  I  remember  how  we  anxiously  waited  to  see  our  new  teacher, 
and  upon  one  occasion  there  was  almost  a  startled  groan  as  she  appeared,  for  she 
was  extremely  and  painfully  homely.  At  recess  we  all  agreed  that  she  was  the  ugliest 
woman  we  had  ever  seen,  and  we  wondered  how  she  could  bear  to  look  in  the  glass, 
and  marvelled  that  the  glass  itself  did  not  break  in  rebellion. 

"But  my  friends,  before  that  term  of  school  was  over  we  had  all  forgotten  her 
homely  face,  and  were  profoundly  ashamed  of  our  early  remarks  and  thoughts 
about  her,  for  she  had  won  our  deepest  admiration  and  respect.  Her  very  character, 
her  real  worth,  her  spirit  of  sympathy  and  helpfulness  shone  with  radiance  in  her 
face  and  made  it  glow  with  a  beautiful  charm  to  all  who  knew  her.  Thus  it  was  that 
she  stamped  her  character  of  excellence  upon  that  school  as  no  other  teacher  had 
ever  done. 

"I  come  finally  to  speak  of  the  useful  sphere  for  women  of  Nursing. 

"The  trained  nurse  is  the  doctor's  assistant,  the  mother's  expert  assistant,  the 


DUTIES   OF  THE  NURSE  65 

wife's  expert  assistant.  She  is  exepcted  to  be  a  living  example  of  cleanliness  in 
habits,  manner  and  dress.  She  is  expected  to  be  an  expert  housekeeper  and  cook, 
and  is  supposed  to  know  how  to  keep  her  own  counsel  to  know  and  mind  her  own 
business. 

"When  the  child  is  sick,  the  mother  calls  the  doctor,  and  when  he  deems  it 
wise,  he  calls  for  the  nurse,  who  now  comes  into  the  house  not  to  take  the  place  of  the 
mother,  but  to  add  her  skill  and  expert  knowledge  as  an  aid  or  assistant  to  the 
mother  in  carrying  the  little  one  through  this  trying  ordeal,  and  restoring  it  to 
health  under  the  directions  of  the  physician. 

"When  the  mother  or  wife  is  sick  and  the  nurse  is  called  into  the  home,  she 
becomes  the  docor's  chief  assistant,  and  the  general  manager  of  the  husband,  as 
well  as  supervisor  of  the  affairs  of  the  household,  while  she  skillfully  nurses  the  sick 
one  back  to  health. 

"When  the  husband  or  father  is  sick  and  the  nurse  is  called  in,  it  is  not  to  take 
the  place  or  supplant  the  wife,  but  she  is  now  called  as  an  expert  assistant  to  the 
wife,  and  under  the  instructions  of  the  physician,  who  may  be  in  attendance. 

"So  that  the  real  thing  for  which  the  nurse  is  called  into  the  home  is  to  be 
the  doctor's  assistant,  to  carry  out  his  orders  and  help  restore  the  sick  one  to  health. 
And  yet  if  she  has  done  her  work  well,  she  leaves  the  home  better  in  its  sanitary 
conditions,  better  in  its  ideas  of  the  rules  for  health,  and  more  efficient  in  its 
influences  as  a  home  and  center  for  the  promotion  of  health  in  the  individual,  the 
home  and  the  community,  than  it  was  before  she  entered  it. 

"It  may  be  well  for  us  to  know  that  besides  all  this  the  trained  nurse  stands 
for  and  represents  some  very  definite  things. 

"I.  She  represents  the  great  army  of  nurses  which  now  encircle  the  globe  in 
all  civilized  lands,  of  which  Florence  Nightingale  and  Clara  Barton  are  both  striking 
and  noteworthy  examples. 

"Whether,  therefore,  she  serves  in  the  ranks,  or  as  leader  in  the  battle  against 
disease,  she  should  not  dishonor  the  service. 

"2.  She  represents  her  class,  and  all  the  Alumni  of  her  school  of  graduation. 
Surely  she  would  not  desire  to  discredit  any  of  them. 

"3.  She  represents  the  school  and  hospital  of  her  graduation.  This  means  that 
her  Superintendent  and  the  doctors  under  whom  she  was  trained  will  be  judged 
somewhat  by  the  character  of  her  work,  and  the  school  itself  will  be  praised  or  con- 
demned in  a  measure  by  her  skill  as  a  nurse,  and  her  character  as  a  woman. 

"4.  She  is  an  example,  a  living  illustration,  or  an  epitome  of  the  rules  and  regula- 
tions of  health  for  the  individual  and  the  home.  She  ought  therefore  to  be  cleanly 
in  person  and  dress,  hygienic  in  her  habits,  and  practices,  as  well  as  sanitary  in  her 
place  and  manner  of  living. 

"5.  Finally,  she  stands  as  every  other  responsible  human  being  does,  for  her 
own  personal  merit  and  worth;  therefore  her  ideals  should  be  high,  her  standard 
should  be  noble,  and  her  aim  to  fill  to  the  best  of  her  ability  the  place  for  which  she 
was  designed. 

"Thus  you  will  see.  ladies  and  gentlemen,  how  and  why  it  is  that  motherhood  is 
the  ideal  of  all  mankind  for  woman,  and  you  will  also  observe  that  neither  teaching 
nor  nursing  need  detract  from  nor  unfit  those  faithfully  engaged  in  these  Hnes  of 
service  for  motherhood,  if  they  are  so  fortunate  later  in  life  as  to  be  promoted  to 
this  ideal  sphere  of  their  sex. 

"And  now  young  ladies  of  the  graduating  class,  allow  me  to  congratulate  you 
upon  your  choice  of  vocation,  and  your  present  achievement.  Let  me  urge  you  to 
recognize  to  the  full  your  powers  for  good,  and  your  splendid  opportunities  for 
usefulness.  Hold  firmly  to  the  loftiest  ideals,  build  noble  and  worthy  characters, 
while  daily  giving  valiant,  skillful  and  efficient  service,  so  that  you  may  at  last  hear 
the  Divine  commendation,  'Well  done,  good  and  faithful  servant,  enter  thou  into 
the  joys  of  thy  Lord,'  " 

Let  me  illustrate  further  by  reading  you  this  address  by  one  of  our  physicians, 
given  at  the  request  of  a  young  ladies'  class: 


CO  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF  EQUITY 

THE  NATURAL  FRUITS  OF  IGNORANCE.  POVERTY.  SICKNESS  AND  UNHYGIENIC 
CONDITIONS  FROM  A  PHYSICIAN'S  VIEWPOINT. 

*T  must  needs  turn  this  question  about  a  little,  and  being  addressed  to  young 
ladies  alone,  it  must  also  be  discussed  with  special  reference  to  them. 

"I.  The  natural  fruits  or  results  of  sickness  and  of  living  or  working  in  un- 
hygienic conditions. 

"Every  person  requires  for  perfect  health,  plenty  of  fresh  air,  abundance  of 
sunlight,  good  ventilation  under,  within  and  around  any  place  where  she  is  required 
to  spend  much  time,  either  waking  or  sleeping.  Note  what  careful  provisions  the 
well-to-do  make  for  their  fine  horses,  cows  and  even  for  their  dogs,  lest  they  be 
contaminated  with  filth,  and  become  sick  or  decrepit  from  the  miasms  of  impure 
conditions  and  surroundings.  How  much  more  a  human  being,  endowed  with  almost 
infinite  powers  and  eternal  possibilities.  We  ought  never  forget  that  every  human 
being,  no  matter  how  humble,  or  poor,  or  ignorant,  is  by  nature  endowed  with  the 
right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  which  of  course  must  include  the 
right  to  health  and  healthful  conditions. 

"It  is  interesting  and  profitable  to  observe  how  much  money  is  spent  annually 
by  the  cities,  the  slates,  and  the  nation  to  insure  the  health  of  the  people,  to  prevent 
those  wide-spread  epidemics  which  we  know  to  be  preventable,  as  cholera,  typhus 
fever,  and  typhoid,  as  well  as  others.  These  are  wise  proceedings  and  augur  well 
for  much  which  still  remains  to  do. 

"The  unhealthy,  stuffy,  dark,  overcrowded  tenement  house,  the  dug-out  and 
shanty  in  the  low  and  miasmic  districts  along  the  rivers,  sloughs,  without  drainage, 
without  sunlight,  without  proper  air,  are  constant  sources  of  ill  health  and  must 
breed  disease  direct,  as  well  as  produce  sickly  and  delicate  children.  The  factory, 
the  shop,  the  store,  without  light,  ventilation,  and  in  the  midst  of  filthy  and  unclean 
surroundings,  where  one  during  working  hours  must  needs  breathe  these  obnoxious 
or  poisonous  vapors  and  air,  are  not  only  destructive  to  the  best  service  which  the 
employee  can  give,  and  therefore  very  expensive  from  an  economic  point  of  view; 
but  are  sources  of  disease  and  early  breakdown  of  vital  energy. 

"To  do  one's  best  work,  to  do  justice  to  one's  self,  to  preserve  one's  health, 
vigor  and  economic  usefulness,  healthful  surroundings  while  at  work  are  necessary, 
as  well  as  where  one  lives  and  sleeps. 

"The  supply  of  abundance  of  good  pure  water  for  drinking  purposes  should  be 
adequately  provided  to  all  as  a  most  important  factor  in  the  health  of  a  community, 
and  for  the  individual.  Most  people  do  not  drink  enough  water  for  their  own 
highest  good  and  best  physical  condition,  but  all  drink  some,  and  this,  whether 
great  or  small  should  be  the  best  obtainable  and  wholly  free  from  danger  of  carrying 
disease  into  the  human  body.  Then,  too,  plenty  of  good  water  for  bathing  purposes 
should  be  provided  as  a  means  for  promoting  health. 

"Now  it  so  happens,  that  when  the  above  conditions  are  not  adequately  or 
reasonably  well  met,  then  gradual  weakness,  disability  or  disease  are  brought  on 
and  the  person  is  unable  to  discharge  his  highest  duty  to  his  fellow  beings,  and 
further  is  more  easily  discouraged  with  life,  with  the  outlook  of  the  present,  and 
gets  gloomy  forebodings  of  the  future,  and  therefore  is  in  the  frame  of  mind  to 
originate  or  combine  with  others  in  executing  some  evil  designs  upon  himself  or 
others.  Suicide  may  result,  or  some  crime  be  committed  against  the  state  or  society. 
In  other  words  the  mental  attitude  of  such  becomes  a  verdant  soil  for  vice  and 
crime.  All  moral  actions  come  from  a  voluntary  choice  of  any  given  course;  and 
all  thoughts  of  every  kind  come  from  the  bodily  sensations  which  being  transmitted 
to  the  brain  set  up  an  action  which  is  properly  called  thought,  and  when  thought 
develops  into  desire  and  will  once  decides  or  choice  is  made,  the  action  which  follows 
is  good  or  bad  according  to  whether  or  not  it  harmonizes  with  right  and  truth.  So 
that  if  these  sensations  which  go  to  the  brain  be  obscured  or  distorted  by  disease 
conditions,  or  reach  a  disordered  brain,  then  how  can  you  expect  a  perfect,  a 
natural  or  a  true  and  right  result?  If  the  receptive  organ,  the  brain,  or  the  trans- 
mitting organ,  the  nerves,  or  finally  the  various  organs  or  tissues  of  the  body  from 
which  the  sensations  spring,  are  out  of  tune  with  the  music  of  health  and  the  perfect 


FRUITS  OF  POVERTY  67 

harmony  which  ought  to  prevail  among  the  constituent  parts  of  the  body  is  replaced 
by  discord,  no  wonder  that  we  often  have  the  judgment  giving  wrong  decision  and 
the  will  directing  persons  to  perfoming  wrong  actions. 

"We  must  look  well  to  the  soil,  the  brain,  we  must  be  extremely  careful  of  the 
seed  sown,  the  thoughts,  as  well  as  the  sensations  produced  and  the  kind  of  tissues 
and  bodily  organs  from  which  these  sensations  come,  if  we  would  have  a  good  harvest 
in  actions,  deeds,  lives,  characters,  and  destmies. 

"Hence  I  hold  the  importance  of  securing  and  maintaining  good  health  is  a 
strong  factor  in  good  morals,  lessening  of  vice  and  crime,  and  producing  better 
economic  conditions  for  the  individual  and  therefore  for  the  state,  so  that  our 
conclusion  on  this  first  heading  may  fairly  be,  the  naural  fruits  of  living  or  working 
in  unhygienic  conditions  are  the  lowering  of  the  vital  forces  to  resist  disease,  and 
the  more  easy  acquirement  of  disease,  and  the  more  readily  will  the  person  so 
engaged  take  on  vice  or  crime,  and  the  economic  conditions  will  be  made  worse  just 
in  proportion  to  the  badness  of  the  conditions,  and  happiness  less  easily  secured. 

"2.  The  natural  fruits  of  poverty.  The  wise  man  by  inspiration  spake  these 
truths  for  our  learning,  'The  destruction  of  the  poor  is  their  poverty.' 

"'Give  me  neither  poverty  nor  riches;  feed  me  with  food  convenient  for  me; 
lest  I  be  full  and  deny  thee  and  say.  Who  is  the  Lord?  Or  lest  I  be  poor,  and  steal, 
and  take  the  name  of  my  God  in  vain.' 

"It  almost  seems  to  be  the  very  nature  of  girls  and  women  to  like  pretty 
things,  dresses,  shoes,  hats,  jewels,  rings,  etc.  True  the  standard  of  beauty  differs 
widely  among  the  people  of  different  nationalities,  as  well  as  among  the  various 
classes  of  society  in  every  country.  But  for  the  things  that  go  to  make  a  girl  or 
woman  happy  are  all  those  ornaments  in  dress  and  other  finery  with  which  she  decks 
herself  to  be  attractive  to  the  boys  and  men,  or  even  to  the  girl  companions  with 
which  she  desires  to  associate.  In  short  her  standard  of  beauty  is  made  largely  by 
her  friends  and  those  with  whom  she  wishes  to  be  friends. 

"Every  normal  girl  or  woman  wishes  to  indulge  more  or  less  freely  too  in 
those  games,  parties  or  other  entertainments  which  belong  to  her  set,  or  to  the 
circle  in  which  she  chooses  to  move.  She  is  not  satisfied,  her  life  is  not  contented 
unless  she  can  have  a  fair  share  of  the  recreations  and  temporal  pleasures  which 
are  common  to  the  society  in  which  she  aspires  to  have  a  part. 

"Neither  can  it  be  denied  that  every  truly  normal  girl  and  young  woman 
ultimately  desires  to  be  a  wife,  a  mother  and  a  home-maker  if  the  proper  conditions 
shall  come  to  her.  I  would  not  for  a  moment  undervalue  the  high  character,  moral 
worth  and  splendid  womanhood  of  those  who  for  various  good  and  sufficient  reasons 
never  do  marry.  Nay!  I  say  all  honor  to  those  splendid  women  who  carry  themeselves 
with  dignity  and  independence  and  will  not  marry  for  money,  for  position,  for  mere 
social  reasons  or  merely  to  get  a  home  and  have  some  one  to  lean  upon  or  make 
their  living  for  them.  Aye!  better  remain  in  single  blessedness  than  live  in  double 
cursedness  with  an  impure  man,  or  where  no  love  is.  After  all,  the  real  truth  is 
that  girls  and  women  do  and  by  right  they  ought  to  aspire  to  this  holy  relation,  and 
here  they  may  properly  do  their  best  and  divinely  appointed  work.  Therefore  it  is 
natural  and  right  for  them  to  form  attachments  to  boys  and  men  and  cultivate 
their  society,  their  friendship  and  their  admiration,  and  they  do  this  by  making 
themselves  attractive  in  person,  in  dress,  in  ornamentation,  and  going  with  them 
in  recreations,  to  entertainments,  to  parties,  and  in  anything  that  will  add  to  the 
fascination  of  the  boy  or  man  for  them,  limited  only  by  right,  a  boundary  line,  it 
must  be  confessed,  which  is  often  vague  and  visionary.  In  other  words,  they  strive 
to  please,  and  many  times  are  not  too  careful  about  the  means  they  use,  if  only  it 
will  accomplish  their  object,  namely,  please  the  boy  or  man  they  admire. 

"If  you  have  read  Goethe's  Faust  you  may  remember  the  character  of  Margaret 
who  was  caught  by  this  man  who  had  sold  himself  to  the  devil's  messenger  for 
twenty-four  years,  provided  only  that  during  this  time  the  devil  would  give  him 
anything  he  wanted.  Now  in  his  rounds  he  met  this  young,  and  innocent,  but  poor 
girl,  and  after  bestowing  upon  her  a  box  of  jewelry,  he  gradually  worked  his  way 
into  her  good  graces  until  she  was  easy  to  seduce.  It  is  but  the  portrayal  of  an  oft- 
repeated  tale,  too  sad  and  real  to  need  other  proofs  of  its  frequent  occurrence.     I 


68  EQUITAXIA,   OK  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

myself  know  a  young  woman  who  was  seduced  by  a  business  man,  a  widower,  who 
agreed  to  give  her  some  money  she  was  in  much  need  of.  So  that  girls  and  women, 
either  single  or  married,  who  do  not  have  the  money  to  gratify  these  perfectly 
natural  desires  for  fine  things  and  a  good  time,  are  easy  victims  to  the  man  who 
will  supply  them,  unless  they  are  protected  by  a  sense  of  right  and  a  moral  character 
which  can  withstand  such  very  subtle  temptations. 

"You  may  remember  the  most  striking  and  profoundly  true  injunction  of  the 
Apostle  when  he  said,  'The  love  of  money  is  the  root  of  all  evil.' 

"If  you  go  into  the  stores,  shops  and  various  places  where  women  are  employed 
and  see  many  times  how  scant  their  wages,  how  utterly  impossible  it  is  for  them  to 
live  with  any  sort  of  comfort  upon  the  pittance  they  receive  for  their  daily  toil, 
and  how  eagerly  boys  and  men  hang  about  to  entrap  such  as  may  be  susceptible  to 
their  wiles,  you  would  not  be  surprised  at  the  large  number  who  are  led  astray,  nor 
would  you  be  at  a  loss  to  account  for  the  source  from  which  comes  many  to  fill 
the  numerous  houses  of  shame;  yes,  the  houses  of  man's  shame  where  women  are 
supplied  to  meet  his  impure  and  lustful  desires.  The  mere  knowledge  that  these 
poor  creatures  may  have  such  temporary  privileges,  comforts,  yea,  even  the  neces- 
sities of  life  by  the  barter  of  their  bodies,  makes  the  downward  path  easy  and  almost 
attractive,  so  dreadful  are  the  straits  of  poverty  at  times.  Do  you  not  remember 
the  poem  of  Thomas  Hood  which  the  whole  English  nation  almost  instantly  learned 
by  heart,  so  touching,  so  sad,  so  expressive  of  a  deep  and  widespread  human  cry, 
'The  Song  of  the  Shirt?' 

"'Work,  work,  work! 

My  labor  never  flags. 
And  what  are  its  wages?     A  bed  of  straw, 

A  crust  of  bread,  and  rags, 
A  shattered  roof,  and  this  naked  floor, 

A   table,   a  broken  chair. 
And  a  wall  so  blank,  my  shadow  I  thank 

For  sometimes  falling  there.' 

"And  it  must  have  been  a  poor  and  over-worked  girl  whom  some  false  lover 
had  betrayed  of  whom  he  wrote  those  other  lines,  too  often  true  in  real  life,  for  us  to 
doubt   their   application. 

"  'One     more     unfortunate. 

Weary  of  breath. 
Rashly  importunate. 

Gone  to  her  death! 
Take  her  up  tenderly. 

Lift  her  with  care. 
Fashioned    so    slenderly. 

Young  and  so  fair! 
Alas!   for  the  rarity 

Of  Christian  charity 
Under  the  sun. 

Oh!   it  was  pitiful! 
Near  a  whole  city  full 

Home  she  had  none.' 

"Oh,  the  wrong  of  the  double  moral  standard  which  society  has  set  up  for  men 
and  women,  and  how  mightily  do  the  innocent  cry  to  heaven  against  such  an  unjust 
and  mfamous  outrage!  No  good  reason  can  be  given  why  men  should  be  less  pure 
than  women. 

"  'Then  let  it  ring  from  shore  to  shore. 
That  men  must  sow  wild  oats,  no  more.' 

"You  would  be  shocked  beyond  measure  if  I  were  to  tell  you  how  many  youn^ 
women  d»e  in  our  hospitals  because  some  men  have  betrayed  them  and  if  to  thil 
list  were  added  those  who  commit  suicide  for  the  same  reason,  a  mighty  army  would 


FRUITS  OF  POVERTY  69 

be  enrolled,  and  the  nation  would  fairly  stagger  at  the  appalling  and  awful  picture 
of  terrible  devastation. 

"Before  leaving  this  phase  of  the  subject,  I  must  call  your  attention  to  some 
facts  in  proof  of  what  I  have  already  said.  The  United  States  census  report  for 
1890  tells  us  that  in  the  United  States  are  106.254  insane  people,  and  carefully 
prepared  statistics  show  that  from  50  to  60  per  cent  of  the  insane  are  traceable  to 
drink,  and  that  55  per  cent  of  drunkards'  children  have  some  physical  defect  while 
only  18  per  cent  of  temperate  parents  are  so  troubled.  I  believe  I  am  safe  and 
within  the  bounds  of  the  real  facts  when  I  say  that  from  85  to  90  per  cent  of  all 
men  use  liquor  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and  the  excessive  users  of  liquor,  tobacco 
and  drugs  is  a  shamefully  large  per  cent  of  both  men  and  women. 

"When  it  is  shown  over  and  over  again  by  every  careful  observer  the  wide 
world  round,  that  the  children  of  these  men  and  women  who  by  excesses  so  injure 
the  bodies  that  some  mental  or  other  physical  defects  and  weaknesses  are  very 
frequently  transmitted  to  their  children,  so  that  such  children  are  handicapped  most 
seriously  in  the  race  of  life,  can  you  wonder  from  whence  comes  vice  and  crime? 

"The  insane,  the  feeble-minded,  the  idiotic,  the  epileptic  are  known  very  many 
times  to  come  from  this  evil  parentage,  and  when  added  to  this  are  poverty  and 
distress  for  the  actual  needs  of  the  body,  can  you  wonder  at  the  further  outcome 
of  vice  and  crime  from  such  a  hot-bed  of  iniquity,  and  at  it  being  a  fruitful  source 
of  every  sort  of  evil? 

"In  addition  to  these  deplorable  facts,  do  you  not  see  that  poverty,  poor  and 
inadequate  food,  clothing,  shelter,  and  vicious  surroundings  of  themselves  tend  to 
make  one  easily  susceptible  to  drink,  drugs  and  other  vicious  habits  that  the  sufferer 
may  forget  or  become  oblivious  to  his  surroundings  and  careless  of  his  condition? 
"The  same  census  shows  that  144,399  persons  are  blind  of  one  or  both  eyes, 
and  many  of  these  it  is  well  known  are  blind  from  the  sins  of  their  fathers  or  mothers. 
There  were  in  prison  82,329,  while  in  the  juvenile  reformatories  were  14,846,  and 
it  is  further  estimated  that  only  one-fifth  of  the  active  criminals  are  behind  the  bars 
at  any  one  time,  and  that  100,000  more  belong  to  the  army  of  tramps,  and  most 
of   these   are  young  men. 

"There  were  73,045  inmates  of  alms  houses,  and  111,910  more  in  various 
benevolent  institutions.  The  number  of  those  who  commit  suicide  is  surprisingly 
large  as  you  must  all  know  by  a  mere  observance  of  the  reports  from  our  own  city. 
Every  suicide  is  due,  in  my  opinion,  to  some  unsettled  state  of  mind,  or  insanity 
brought  on  by  various  causes,  worry  over  finances,  worry  over  one's  physical,  social 
or  family  relations,  and  of  course  this  may  be  predisposed  to  by  the  physical  or 
mental  weakness  inherited  or  brought  on  through  over-work  or  bad  surroundings. 
"I  think  then  we  may  fairly  calculate  under  our  second  heading  the  natural 
results  of  poverty  are  ignorance,  poor  health,  susceptibility  to  crime,  vice,  bad  habits, 
evil  and  vicious  associates,  improper  food,  clothing,  shelter,  education,  training, 
culture,  weak  bodies,  weak  minds,  immoral  characters  and  bad  homes,  all  of  which 
are  subversive  of  good  government,  and  prevent  happiness  for  the  individual  and 
the  state.  In  short  the  natural  tendency  of  poverty  is  to  promote  selfishness  and 
discord  and  prevent  unselfishness  and  harmony  with  the  truth  and  right. 

"Coming  now  to  the  third  and  last  subdivision  of  our  subject;  'The  natural 
fruits  of  ignorance,'  these  are  too  numerous  to  mention  in  detail  even  as  applied  to 
girls  and  women,  but  I  must  mention  some  of  them,  and  I  believe  it  will  be  found  that 
the  principles  now  to  be  enumerated  will  be  of  universal  application. 

"If  a  woman  be  ignorant  of  her  origin,  her  powers  and  possibilities,  her  destiny, 
and  the  very  object  of  her  existence,  together  with  the  duties  and  responsibilities 
which  naturally  belong  to  such  a  rational  being,  it  will  not  only  be  utterly  impossible 
for  her  to  reach  the  destiny  for  which  she  was  intended;  but  she  will  surely  struggle 
in  vain  for  any  adequate  end  in  life,  and  many  pitfalls  will  impede  her  pathway, 
while  numerous  snares  will  entrap  her  wandering  feet. 

"1.  Every  girl  should  early  be  taught  that  she  is  the  handiwork  of  the  Author 
of  the  Universe,  of  God  the  Creator  of  all  things  who  brought  her  into  being  by  the 
special  process  of  reproduction  through  her  father  and  mother.  He  it  is  who  gives 
and  maintains  her  being  with  all  of  its  powers,  according  to  well-established  laws 


EQUITAXIA,   OK   TllK    LAND   OF   KQUITY 

which  He  has  founded  for  the  physical  world  or  that  tangible  part  of  His  universe 
with  which  we  at  present  have  to  do.  She  should  be  taught  that  she  is  in  the  world 
for  a  purpose,  she  has  a  mission,  a  definite  place  to  fill.  This  Being  of  Almighty 
power,  of  Infinite  Wisdom,  of  Boundless  Love,  had  a  definite  object  in  view  when 
he  put  her  into  this  world,  and  therefore  endowed  her  with  her  varied  powers,  and 
gave  her  certain  environment,  opportunities,  and  made  her  subject  to  the  multi- 
plicity of  laws  and  circumstances  in  which  to  grow  and  out  of  which  to  develop  into 
her  highest  possibilities,  namely,  abiding  peace  and  happiness. 

"It  is  lack  of  this  knowledge  that  makes  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  the  female 
degradation  of  all  the  benighted  portions  of  the  earth,  and  makes  woman  too  often 
the  mere  puppet  of  man's  tyranny  in  one  or  another  form. 

"The  girl  should  be  taught  her  physical  being,  with  its  powers  and  possibilities 
for  good  or  evil.  She  should  be  taught  and  encouraged  to  fill  her  place  as  a  helper 
to  the  mother  in  making  a  proper  home  for  the  family;  that  later  she  may  direct 
the  one  over  which  she  shall  be  the  chosen  queen.  I  do  not  seriously  object  to  the 
High  School,  Seminary  and  College  training  for  girls,  provided  they  do  not  take 
away  or  too  greatly  undervalue  the  high  and  most  important  function  of  woman  as 
a  home-maker,  wife  and  mother.  I  must  confess,  however,  that  I  am  not  at  all 
pleased  with  the  present  system  of  education,  for  1  am  sure  too  much  attention  is 
paid  to  the  theoretical  and  imaginary  things  of  life,  and  not  enough  to  the  practical 
and  really  useful  things.  Too  much  is  being  done  for  the  head  and  not  enough  for 
the  heart  and  hand.  I  am  sure  this  change  must  soon  come,  or  the  entire  fabric 
of  our  government  will  crumble  to  the  earth.  We  cannot  go  on  indefinitely  as  we 
are,  for  the  fast  approaching  storm  is  more  and  more  attracting  the  attention  of 
reformers,  journalists,  statesmen,  and  all  careful  observers  of  our  commonwealth, 
because  the  struggle  between  capital  and  labor,  the  oppressor  and  the  oppressed,  the 
rich  and  the  poor,  the  criminal  and  the  law  abiding,  the  vicious  and  the  philanthropic, 
is  becommg  m.ore  pronounced,  and  few  there  be  who  seem  to  appreciate  the  real 
underlying  cause,  which  I  believe  to  be  the  lack  of  correct  moral  and  religious 
training  for  the  young,  together  with  too  large  an  immigration  to  our  shores  of  the 
ignorant  and  immoral.  We  have  no  more  right  to  admit  a  super-abundance  of  labor 
to  our  land  that  our  own  workmen  may  be  pushed  to  the  wall  by  undue  competition, 
and  driven  to  starvation  wages,  than  a  father  has  to  adopt  and  assume  to  provide 
for  a  half  dozen  other  children  than  his  own,  when  by  so  doing,  his  own  are  not 
properly  clothed,  fed,  nor  housed. 

"He  is  in  duty  and  honor  bound  first  to  care  for  his  own  properly,  before 
assuming  this  other  worthy  and  commendable  task,  when  he  is  in  condition  to  rightly 
do  so,  but  which  is  worse  than  a  crime  if  undertaken  at  the  sacrifice  of  higher  and 
more  urgent  duties.  Just  as  if  a  man  in  a  sinking  ship  should  so  far  forget  himself 
as  to  neglect  his  own  wife  while  she  sinks  to  a  watery  grave,  but  heroically  saves 
some  other  woman,  we  could  hardly  credit  him  with  a  worthy  and  laudable  ambition. 
No,  our  first  duty  here  is  to  our  own  and  then  do  what  we  can  for  others  is  the  true 
spirit. 

"Too  keen  competition  in  the  labor  world  largely  brought  about  by  this  excess 
of  foreigners  coming  to  our  shores  lowers  wages  and  makes  it  difficult  for  men  to 
properly  support  their  families,  and  thus  much  of  child  labor  is  produced,  and  girls 
and  women  are  driven  out  of  their  homes  by  force  of  these  unnatural  conditions  to 
support  themselves  in  the  shop,  the  store,  the  factory,  and  elsewhere  in  competition 
with   men   and  with   others. 

"Some  years  ago  I  was  asked  to  discuss  a  question  closely  akin  to  that  before  us 
tonight.  And  since  some  of  the  points  I  then  made  are  equally  applicable  and  force- 
ful now,  I  shall  ask  your  indulgence  while  I  quote  from  that  paper  as  follows: 

"  'Resolved  that  the  present  trend  of  female  employment,  in  factories,  stores, 
etc.,  is  in  the  wrong  direction.     We  affirm  this  to  be  true  for  the  following  reasons. 

"  Tirst.  It  keeps  multitudes  of  men  out  of  much-needed  employment,  for  it 
multiplies  the  laborers,  but  does  not  increase  the  work. 

"  'Second.  The  demand  for  laborers  therefore  being  diminished,  it  propor- 
tionately reduces  the  wages. 


FRUITS  OF  IGNORANCE  71 

"  'Third.  It  keeps  many  men  from  marrying  and  establishing  homes,  for  they 
feel  wholly  unable  to  support  families  upon  such  meager  incomes. 

"  'Fourth.  It  throws  upon  women  work  for  which  they  are  not  physically  fitted 
and  demands  of  them  burdens  they  were  never  designed  to  bear,  and  therefore 
does  them,  their  posterity,  and  hence  the  community,  untold  harm. 

"  'Fifth.  It  subjects  women  to  numerous  over-powering  temptations  by  which 
many  fall  never  to  rise;  and  thus  are  added  to  the  fallen,  dependent  and  criminal 
classes,  multitudes  from  year  to  year.' 

"(a)  I  quote  from  Dr.  Saenger's  work,  the  most  elaborate  one  published  upon 
prostitution: 

"  'Apart  from  low  rate  of  wages  paid  to  women,  thus  causing  destitution, 
which  forces  them  to  vice,  the  associations  of  most  of  the  few  trades  they  are  in  the 
habit   of  pursuing   are  prejudicial   to   virtue. 

"  'Domestic  servants  are  not  exempt  from  temptations  when  employed  in  large 
establishments  where  both  sexes  are  engaged,  and  many  a  poor  girl  ascribes  her 
ruin  to  the  associations  formed  in  places  of  this  description. 

"  'The  numerous  cases  of  seduction  under  false  promises  and  subsequent  deser- 
tion;  of  seduction  by  married  men,  of  violations  of  helpless  and  unprotected  females, 
are  abundantly  sufficient  to  prove  this,  much  as  it  may  be  regretted  for  the  credit 
of  the  stronger  sex,  and  also  to  vindicate  the  opinion  that  employing  females  and 
males  under  one  roof,  in  different  branches  of  the  same  business,  has  a  strong 
tendency  to  promote  prostitution.  Sometimes,  however,  it  is  true  that  woman,  lost 
and  abandoned  herself,  lends  her  aid  to  drag  her  fellow  wom.en  down  to  perdition. 
In  many  of  the  stores  and  workshops  in  our  city,  in  every  factory  throughout  the 
country,  such  are  to  be  found,  and  their  insidious  influence  is  quickly  felt.  By 
false  representations  and  elaborate  coloring,  they  work  upon  the  minds  of  the 
simple,  or  inflame  the  passions  of  the  ambitious,  but  in  either  case  their  object  is  the 
same,  and  in  it  they  frequently  succeed. 

"  'The  employment  of  females  in  various  trades  in  this  city,  (New  York)  in  the 
pursuit  of  which  they  are  forced  in  to  constant  communication  with  male  operatives 
has  a  disastrous  effect  upon  their  characters.' 

I  quote  from  Dr.  Scott: 

"  'The  vast  army  of  prostitutes  is  almost  entirely  recruited  from  wom.en  of  the 
lower  walks  of  life,  such  as  domestics,  shop-girls,  factory  girls,  immigrants,  chorus 
girls,  ballet  dancers,  and  other  similar  classes. 

"  'The  starvation  wages  paid  to  young  women  in  stores,  factories,  restaurants, 
etc.,  compel  many  of  them  to  earn  money  elsewhere. 

"  'Prostitution  is  very  largely  the  effect  of  the  unfortunate  circumstances  of 
these  poor  girls,  and  the  material  for  brothels  is  largely  recruited  from  the  stores, 
the  factories,  and  the  sweat  shops  where  they  must  work  many  and  weary  hours  for 
cruelly   small   pay. 

"  'Many  hard  working  girls,  victims  of  their  employers'  greed,  are  compelled  to 
practice  clandestine  prostitution.' 

It  is  a  sad  fact,  too,  that  the  very  presence  of  poverty  among  girls  and  women 
often  prevents  them  acquiring  the  education,  entering  the  good  society,  and  securing 
the  moral  and  religious  training  which  would  be  a  mighty  bulwark  against  vice 
and  crime.  By  their  very  surroundings  in  labor  or  in  the  home,  and  by  the  society 
in  which  they  are  compelled  to  move,  they  are  contaminated  by  vice,  by  evil  com- 
panions, and  vicious  influences,  and  almost  forced  against  their  choice  into  ways  of 
sin.  Too  often  they  cannot  choose  better  conditions  which  would  help  them  to 
resist  temptation  and  overcome  evil  within  and  about  them.  The  evils  of  drinking, 
of  smoking,  of  taking  drugs  is  a  steadily  growing  one  among  the  lower  classes,  and 
sometimes  they  are  aping  those  in  the  more  fashionable  and  stylish  walks  of  life. 
Once  more,  the  very  fact  of  being  born  and  reared  in  poverty  is  of  itself  a  hardship 
in  the  race  of  life  and  the  parents  cannot  do  for  their  children  what  they  would 
like,  nor  can  the  children  easily  free  themselves  from  this  embarrassing  situation, 
and  hence  it  requires  more  than  ordinary  will-power  and  force  of  character  to  rise 
above  the  untoward  surroundings  and  make  them  contribute  to  a  really  successful 


72  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

or  heroic  life.  But  that  it  can  be  done  has  been  too  often  demonstrated  in  real  life 
to  doubt  its  possibility.  Men  have  risen  to  the  greatest  power  and  influence  and  have 
developed  the  most  heroic  and  useful  lives  (as  witness  our  own  Lincoln)  who  have 
been  reared  in  poverty.  Women  too  have  sprung  from  the  most  humble  families  and 
have  demonstrated  their  moral  worth  and  greatness  of  soul  by  triumphantly  rising 
above  their  ignoble  environment;  but  where  is  the  incentive,  where  the  opportunity? 

"All  thought  is  the  product  or  result  of  sensations  of  one  kind  or  another,  all 
desire,  the  result  of  thought,  all  moral  acts  the  result  of  desire,  all  moral  habits  the 
result  of  these  repeated  acts,  all  character  the  result  of  choice,  all  destiny  is  the  result 
of  character;  therefore  destiny,  character,  habits,  acts,  desires,  and  thoughts  naturally 
proceed  from  sensations  or  impressions  made  upon  the  nervous  system  at  some  point 
in  its  various  ramifications,  the  same  being  transmitted  to  the  brain,  and  there 
transformed  into  thought,  desire,  action,  etc.  Now  if  it  were  true  that  all  of  these 
links  in  the  chain  of  the  process  were  always  inevitable  and  unavoidable,  then  of 
course  the  human  being  would  be  a  mere  automaton,  a  piece  of  mechanism,  however 
clever  and  perfect,  yet,  nevertheless  an  irresponsible  machine,  an  animal  of  fate, 
with  no  escape  from  a  certain  inevitable  course  of  life  and  doom  dependent  wholly 
upon  heredity  and  environment.  So  that  it  would  literally  be  true  that  no  person 
could  help  being  just  what  he  is  and  what  he  naturally  becomes.  But  herein  con- 
sisits  the  dignity  of  humanity.  We  are  endowed  with  knowledge  (or  power  of 
acquiring  it  by  the  accumulation  of  thought  and  systematizing  it)  memory,  reason, 
reverence,  judgment  and  will  by  which  we  may  determine  to  do  or  not  to  do  a 
certain  thing,  or  pursue  or  not  pursue  a  certain  course. 

"Herein  then  consists  the  great  essential  difference  between  man  and  all  other 
animals  upon  earth,  namely,  reverence  or  conscious  accountability  to  a  Supreme 
Being,  together  with  the  other  faculties  just  named,  with  will  to  choose  and  con- 
scious power  to  do.  We  can  then  by  our  very  power  of  choice  and  the  allied  forces 
which  we  possess  along  v/ith  it,  change  our  environment,  and  even  modify  our 
heredity,  if  only  we  will  to  do  so,  and  then  put  forth  the  necessary  effort  to  get  the 
right  sensation,  to  produce  the  right  thought,  and  correct  desire  upon  a  normal  and 
healthy  mind.  If  you  get  the  point  of  my  argument  you  will  at  once  see  the 
importance  of  every  person  getting  normal  sensations,  normal  thoughts,  which  will 
produce  perfectly  legitimate  desires,  and  then  will  inevitably  follow  good  actions, 
habits,  character,  destiny.  It  is  just  at  this  point  that  will  comes  into  play  and  we 
determine  to  gain  the  knowledge  by  which  we  shall  have  the  right  sensations  and 
harbor  the  right  thoughts,  which  will  grow  into  the  right  desires.  Notice  it  was  thus 
with  our  first  mother  Eve  while  in  Eden  she  had  perfectly  normal  sensations,  thoughts, 
desires,  actions  and  so  on  up  to  the  end  of  the  chain;  until  her  sensations,  thoughts, 
imaginations  which  her  will  allowed  Satan  to  plant  in  her  mind,  which  shortly  grew 
into  desire,  and  then  her  assumed  knowledge  led  her  judgment  to  choose  to  try  the 
forbidden  fruit,  and  then  her  will  determined  the  action  which  led  her  to  put  forth  her 
hand  and  eat.  Every  human  moral  action  from  that  day  until  the  present  has  been  the 
same;  first  sensation,  then  thought,  and  then  when  the  desire  has  become  fixed, 
either  through  mjch  or  little  knowledge,  the  judgment  is  formed,  choice  is  made  and 
the  will  executes  the  command  of  the  Ego,  or  of  the  personality  in  question;  and 
the  moral  quality  of  the  action  is  good  or  bad,  according  as  it  harmonizes  with  or  is 
in  discord  with   the  ultimate   right,  or  perfect   standard  of   moral   excellence. 

"I  have  already  referred  to  marriage  as  the  natural  desire  of  normal  girls  and 
women,  and  upon  this  question  she  ought  to  be  informed,  while  ignorance  too  often 
prevails.  What  then  of  marriage!  Byron  said  of  it,  'The  bloom  or  blight  of  all 
men's  happiness.' 

"I.  What  is  its  origin  and  object?  It  was  instituted  by  the  Almighty,  designed  to 
propagate  the  human  race,  establish  homes,  promote  happiness  and  procure  a  stable 
government. 

"a.  Had  its  origin  in  the  Garden  of  Eden  and  was  authorized  by  Jehovah, 
sanctioned  by  the  Savior  at  Cana  of  Galilee. 

"b.  Was  intended  to  perpetuate  the  race.  'Be  fruitful  and  multiply  and  replenish 
the  earth,'  was  the  divine  command  to  the  first  pair.     This  is  the  natural  and  legi- 


IMPORTANCE   OF  GOOD  HOMES  73 

timate  fruit  of  marriage  and  hence  should  be  expected  and  desired  by  those  who 
enter  this  relation. 

"c.  Establish  and  maintain  homes.  What  earthly  word  so  sweet,  so  tender,  so 
inspiring  as  home.  I  am  often  called  to  the  homes  of  poverty,  of  want,  of  filth,  of 
ignorance  and  of  suffering,  where  sick  or  crippled  are  being  so  poorly  and  meffic- 
iently  cared  for  that  naturally  they  must  die  unless  better  provisions  are  speedily 
made  for  them.  And  when  I  suggest  that  they  be  taken  to  the  hospital  where  they 
will  have  warmth,  comfort,  good  surroundings,  clean  beds,  plenty  of  food  and  the 
best  of  care,  how  sometimes  they  shrink  and  hesitate,  how  much  of  persuasion  and 
coaxing  it  takes  to  gain  their  consent,  all  because  it  is  leaving  home.  Home,  around 
which  cluster  so  many  joys  and  happy  experiences,  so  that  even  the  sorrows,  the 
hardships  and  the  trials  seem  to  endear  the  term  to  us. 

"d.  Secure  and  promote  happiness  to  those  united  in  the  bonds  of  wedlock. 
Many  a  woman  has  been  the  stay  and  comfort  and  support  of  her  husband  in  times 
of  disappointment  and  failure.  Times  have  come  in  the  life  of  the  man  when  he 
would  have  despaired  a^id  abandoned  the  struggle  for  existence  had  it  not  been  for 
the  cheer  and  help  of  a  faithful  wife.  Their  sorrows  are  divided,  their  joys  are 
multiplied,  who  are  rightly  wedded. 

"e.  Produce  a  stable  and  permanent  form  of  government.  The  better  the 
homes  in  any  community,  the  better  the  government  in  it.  Where  the  homes  are  of 
a  high  order  in  morals  and  intellect,  there  government  is  better  and  more  stable. 
Upon  the  purity,  the  intelligence  and  the  sacredness  of  the  home  depends  the 
perpetuity  of  the  government.  Just  in  proportion  as  these  are  weakened  or  under- 
mined will  any  government  totter  upon  its   foundation. 

"2.  What  are  its  obligations? 

"It  is  a  moral  and  a  civil  contract,  carrying  with  it  both  secular  and  religious 
obligations.  Where  love  reigns  and  both  parties  have  high  and  noble  ideas  no 
discord  of  a  serious  nature  can  ever  arise.  Being,  however,  a  civil  contract,  the 
state  should  compel  the  carrying  out  of  the  contract  as  thoroughly  as  it  would  a 
contract  between  two  business  men.  No  man  has  a  right  to  go  into  an  elegant 
home,  win  the  heart  and  secure  the  hand  of  a  fair  and  innocent  young  woman,  and 
as  he  leads  her  to  the  alter  pledge  himself  to  her  care  and  support  while  life  shall  last, 
and  then  be  allowed  by  the  state  to  leave  her  upon  slight  or  even  great  provocation, 
and  let  her  shift  for  herself  and  possibly  care  for  several  children  which  have  come  to 
cement  the  union.  That  man  should  be  compelled  by  law,  and  if  need  be  hunted 
by  the  state  to  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  coerced  to  discharge  at  least  his  civil 
obligations  to  his  dependent  ones.  Nor  has  a  man  any  right  to  squander  his  time 
in  idleness,  or  spend  his  means  in  drinking,  gambling,  or  other  frivolous  or  vicious 
ways,  while  his  family  suffers  for  the  necessaries  of  life.  Such  an  one  should  be 
made  to  take  up  his  avocation  diligently,  and  so  wisely  and  economically  use  his 
earnings  that  those  who  are  lawfully  dependent  upon  him  shall  have  their  just  need 
of  support,  or  a  guardian  should  be  appointed  over  him  to  see  that  such  distribution 
is  made.  Let  it  be  forever  settled  that  when  these  contracts  are  entered  into  they 
must  be  faithfully  carried  out  according  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  law,  and  that 
divorces  shall  be  given  with  permission  to  re-marry  among  Christians  for  only  the 
Scriptural  cause,  and  there  would  be  such  a  mighty  uplift  in  the  mental,  moral  and 
physical  welfare  of  society  as  the  world  has  seldom  seen. 

"3.  The  fruits  of  marriage— children,  and  what  do  they  require?  Bonapart  said. 
'The  future  destiny  of  the  child  is  always  the  work  of  the  mother.' 

"James  said,  'The  interests  of  childhood  and  youth  are  the  interests  of  man- 
kind.' And  Emerson  said,  'The  true  test  of  civilization  is  not  the  census,  nor  the 
size  of  cities,  nor  the  crops,  but  the  kind  of  man  that  the  country  turns  out.' 

"Dr.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  said,  'To  properly  train  a  child,  begin  one  hundred 
years  before  it  is  born.'  Victor  Hugo  said,  'To  civilize  a  man,  begin  with  his  grand- 
mother.' 

"Every  child  gets  and  must  have  in  some  measure: 

"a.  Physical  care.  Its  body  must  be  provided  for.  It  will  need  food,  shelter 
and  clothing.     It  is  entitled  to  the  best  physical  organization  its  parents  can  give  it. 


Kgl  ITAXIA,   ()\{  TIIK    LAND   OF   KQUITY 

Therefore  its  parents  should  be  in  health  themselves  and  thus  transmit  to  it  as 
perfect  a  body  as  possible.  Statistics  show  that  nearly  three  times  as  many  children 
of  drunkards  have  some  physical  defect  as  do  those  of  temperate  parents.  One-third 
of  idiots  and  a  large  percentage  of  feeble-minded  children  have  drinking  ancestors. 

"A  decree  has  been  issued  in  the  German  principality  of  Waldeck  forbidding 
the  issuance  of  marriage  licenses  to  habitual  drunkards. 

"The  first  generation  from  drunkards  are  often  drunkards.  The  second  gener- 
ation from  drunkards  are  often  epileptic.  The  third  generation  from  drunkards 
are  often  insane.  The  fourth  generation  from  drunkards  may  be  idiots.  How 
specifically   is   the  Scriptural   declaration    fulfilled. 

"T  the  Lord,  thy  God  am  a  jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquity  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth  generations  of  them  that  hate  me.' 

"The  child  should  have  sufficient  food  of  the  right  kind  to  supply  all  the 
demands  of  the  body.  It  should  have  shelter  from  the  storm,  the  heat  and  the  cold. 
It  must  needs  have  clothing  adapted  to  its  age  and  size  as  well  as  the  season  and 
climate  in  which  it  lives.  It  should  have  exercise,  employment,  and  out-door  life, 
as  well  as  recreation,  in  compliance  with  its  necessities,  for  only  thus  can  it  have 
the  best  physical  development. 

"b.  Intellectual  training.  The  normal  child  has  a  mind  to  develop  and  must 
feed  by  thought  upon  the  best  things  to  grow  up  in  the  best  way;  for  grow,  it  will, 
and  if  good  mental  diet  is  not  provided  then  poor  is  always  at  hand  and  upon  this 
it  will  feed  to  satiety. 

"President  Roosevelt  said,  'Educate  men  by  example.'  And  William  Dean 
Howells  says,  'The  average  boy  does  more  for  his  education  by  observation  and 
reading  than  the  school-master  is  able  to  do  for  him.'  So  that  while  you  may  and 
should  provide  good  schools  for  the  child,  still  you  will  do  better  to  give  it  good 
examples  at  home,  in  the  community,  and  for  associates,  and  especially  should  your 
choice  of  good  papers,  books  and  magazines  be  wisely  made.  Provide  good  reading 
appropriate  to  the  age  and  tendencies  of  the  child,  if  you  would  have  his  intellect 
properly  trained.  Teach  your  children  that  they  have  been  put  into  this  world  to 
fill  a  wise  and  useful  purpose.  Each  child  has  natural  powers,  talents  and  abilities 
for  development  to  fit  it  for  a  specific  place,  that  its  life  may  be  one  of  happiness 
and  beneficence,  and  that  an  important  part  of  its  early  education  is  to  find  just 
what  the  sphere  of  usefulness  is  that  it  may  become  efficiently  equipped  for  service, 
and  when  such  place  is  found  let  him  occupy  it  fully  and  there  will  always  be 
success.  God  fits  for  service,  and  calls  boys,  girls,  men  and  women  to  every  partic- 
ular avocation  in  which  they  can  best  achieve  the  highest  success.  If  they  hear 
and  heed,  all  is  well,  if  not  their  lives  are  more  or  less  futile. 

"  'The  top  is  not  reached  at  a  single  bound. 
But  up  the  ladder,  round  by  round.' 

"c.  Moral  and  religious  education  is  an  essential,  for  every  rational  being  has  a 
moral  nature  which  must  by  culture  and  training  grow  to  a  higher  state  of  purity 
and  uprightness,  or  degenerate  into  the  vicious  and  the  vile.  We  forget  that,  'The 
fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.' 

"  'Fighting  against  wrong  is  the  greatest  sport  in  the  world.'  President 
Roosevelt. 

"The  Duke  of  Wellington  said,  'Educate  men  without  religion  and  you  make 
them  but  clever  devils.'  Sir  Isaac  Newton  said,  'No  sciences  are  better  attested  than 
the  religion  of  the  Bible.'  Addison  said,  'True  religion  and  virtue  give  a  happv  turn 
to  the  mind,  admit  of  all  true  pleasure,  and  even  procure  for  us  the  highest.'  Daniel 
Webster  said,  'Whatever  makes  men  good  Christians,  makes  them  good  citizens.' 

"In  one  year  in  New  York  2,248  boys  and  1 ,056  girls  were  arrested  for  drunk- 
enness. This  is  but  a  slight  index  of  where  the  criminal  classes  come  from.  Boys 
and  girls  who  are  not  properly  cared  for  at  home,  or  who  have  no  suitable  homes  will 
always  provide  a  large  share  of  our  vicious  and  criminal  classes. 

"John  Quincy  Adams  wisely  said,  'So  great  is  my  veneration  for  the  Bible,  that 
the  earlier  my  children  begin  to  read  it,  the  more  confident  will  be  my  hopes  that 
they  will  prove  useful  citizens  to  their  country,  and  responsible  members  of  society.' 


RESPONSIBILITY  OF  MOTHERHOOD  75 

"Mothers,  your  responsibilities  are  greater  than  ever  you  have  dreamed.  Few, 
if  any  men,  have  ever  been  great  and  left  a  useful  and  lasting  impress  upon  humanity 
unless  their  mothers  by  superior  qualities  gave  them  true  greatness. 

"Fuller  said,  'If  you  would  have  a  good  wife,  take  the  daughter  of  a  good 
mother,'  and  you  may  add  from  me  for  the  sake  of  the  girls,  who  would  choose  a 
good  husband,  should  take  the  son  of  a  good  mother,  and  it  is  all  the  better  if  he 
have  a  good  father  too. 

"Every  human  being  of  rational  mind  has  by  intuition  or  training  some  standard 
of  right  or  wrong,  because  of  that  faculty  of  mind  called  reverence,  or  consciousness 
of  accountability  to  the  Supreme  Being;  therefore  the  kind  of  moral  or  religious 
character  any  one  develops  depends  upon 

"1.  What  the  standard  is,  high  or  low,  perfect  or  imperfect,  and 

"2.  Upon  the  fidelity  with  which  the  person  strives  to  attain  the  standard  he  has 
chosen  to  measure  up  to. 

"You  remember  the  Golden  Rule  which  Christ  gave  as  a  safe  and  sensible  guide, 
as  well  as  one  easily  understood  by  men  to  define  their  relations  to  one  another. 
Therefore  all  things  whatsoever  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  do  ye  even 
so  to  them.' 

"Did  you  ever  try  to  define  the  difference  between  a  selfish  and  an  unselfish  act? 
A  selfish  act  is  one  done  primarily  in  the  interest  of  self.  The  motive  which  prompts 
the  act  is  for  self  primarily  and  fundamentally.  An  unselfish  act  is  one  done  pri- 
marily in  the  interest  of  others,  self  being  forgotten  and  ignored.  The  motive  which 
prompts  the  act  is  primarily  for  the  good  of  others. 

"With  this  end  in  view,  I  am  persuaded  that  every  girl  should  early  be  well 
grounded  in  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures  as  a  proper,  yea  the  only  ade- 
quate foundation  for  moral  and  religious  character.  The  Ten  Commandments  in 
full  and  as  further  expounded  by  Christ  contain  the  very  essence  of  the  highest 
type  of  moral  and  religious  culture. 

"Why  do  we  have  the  ten  commandments,  and  why  are  they  the  ultimate  source 
of  all  moral  law  as  applied  to  the  human  race? 

"First.  If  we  grant  (as  most  men  in  enlightened  countries  do)  that  the  God 
of  the  Bible  is  indeed  the  only  true  God  of  the  universe,  that  He  created  the  worlds, 
and  all  things  therein,  and  that  the  Bible,  the  Scriptures  contained  in  the  Old  and 
New  Testaments  are  his  Word  to  the  race,  then  we  must  concede, 

"I.   His  right  to  give  us  these  Ten  Commandments. 

"2.  Their  infallibility  as  coming   from   an   infallible  source. 

"3.  Their  wisdom,  because  given  by  the  Infinitely  Wise  Being. 

"4.  Our  obligation  to  promulgate  and  obey  them,  since  we  are  the  rational 
creatures  of  his  earthly  handiwork. 

"5.  Even  if  he  were  a  malevolent  being  and  these  were  his  injunctions  to  us 
to  our  present  and  eternal  harm,  we  would  be  under  every  possible  moral  obligation 
to  observe  and  do  them,  because  of  His  absolute  and  eternal  proprietorship  in  us, 
for  He  created  us,  sustains  us  in  life,  gives  us  all  powers  we  possess,  'For  in  Him 
we  live,  and  move  and  have  our  being.'  Therefore  our  entire  subjection  to  him 
and  submission  to  his  will  when  made  known  to  us  as  in  these  commands  is  the 
ultimate  and  final  rule  for  us. 

"6.  But  since  Biblical,  as  well  as  other  evidence  shows  that  he  is  a  God  of  Love 
and  that  these  laws  are  for  our  good,  we  are  certainly  under  no  less  obligation  to  do 
them;  and  if  a  careful  study  of  them  with  the  principles  which  underlie  them  should 
show  that  they  emanate  from  the  eternal  principles  of  right,  and  that  man  cannot 
attain  his  best  and  highest  possibilities  without  perfect  submission  to  them,  that  they 
are  not  given  from  a  mere  autocrat  regardless  of  consequences;  but  rather  they  are 
the  fundamental  principles  of  truth  which  necessarily  lie  at  the  foundation  of  the 
Moral  Kingdom  of  the  Universe,  and  have  been  laid  down  or  given  to  us  as  rational 
and  responsible  beings  for  our  information,  that  we  might  know  how  to  come  into 
this  Kingdom  of  Truth  by  choice,  or  remain  outside  by  choice.  The  knowledge  is 
given  us,  the  door  is  open  before  us,  we  may  choose  the  narrow  way  and  reap  its 
reward,  after  suffering  the  hardships  of  this  way,  or  we  may  choose  the  broad  and 
easier  way  with  less  struggle  and  trial,  if  we  prefer  that,  with  its  reward.     It  seems 


70  EQUITAXIA,   Olt   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

that  Jehovah  has  buiU  his  moral  universe  upon  voluntary  service  of  those  who  choose 
to  obey;  all  being  given  the  chance,  and  only  those  admitted  into  the  kingdom  who 
come  by  choice,  no  force  or  coercion  being  used  upon  any.  In  other  words,  even  the 
Almighty  has  nowhere  assumed  the  prerogative  of  compelling  man  to  obey  these 
commands.  He  has  given  all  men  the  alternative  to  choose  obedience  and  be  in 
harmony  with  Him  and  all  Truth,  or  disobedience  and  be  antagonistic  to  Him  and 
all  Truth,  which  necessarily  means  destruction  to  all  discordant  notes  where  the 
universe  must  ultimately  be  in  perfect  harmony.  These  commands  then  are  not 
arbitrary  edicts,  but  fundamental  principles  of  truth  at  the  very  foundation  of  the 
moral  universe,  where  perfect  harmony  shall  prevail,  and  he  who  would  be  a  part 
of  that  eternal  symphony  of  truth  must  obey  them  by  choice,  for  he  will  never 
be  coerced  by  some  external  or  outside  agency  to  take  such  a  position  against  his  will. 
And  this  harmony  will  mean  universal  and  abiding  peace  and  happiness  to  the 
individual  and  the  entire  intelligent  universe. 

"So  that  the  abiding  peace  and  happiness  which  is  the  very  object  and  aim  of 
rational  beings  can  be  had  in  no  other  way  than  by  voluntary  choice  of  harmony 
with  the  Author  of  the  Universe  which  means  voluntary  obedience  to  His  laws. 

"We  may  now  fairly  conclude  that  the  natural  fruits  of  ignorance  are  improper 
living,  false  standards  of  right  and  wrong,  erroneous  ideas  of  human  origin,  purpose 
and  destiny,  sickness  and  desolation,  sin  and  death. 

"  'And  ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  you  free.'. 

"  'He  is  the  free  man  whom  the  truth  makes  free. 
And  all  are  slaves  beside.' — Cowper. 

You  will  see  how  these  two  addresses  carry  out  the  basic  principles  upon  which  I 
have  shown  you  the  arguments  rest  which  the  Equitanians  advance  for  their  views  of 
woman's  place  in  the  sphere  of  life. 

Rev.  David  Jones — It  would  seem  that  you  have  given  us  a  clear  outline  of  their 
voting  system,  and  I  can  most  heartily  commend  it  as  being  upon  a  sound  basis,  as  well 
as  fair  and  equitable.  But  what  about  their  religion?  This  I  am  sure  is  an  important 
thing  in  every  well-regulated  government,  and  I  am  wondering  how  they  manage  that. 

Horace — Yes,  you  are  eminently  correct  in  assuming  that  religion  has  an  important 
place  in  every  civilized  community,  and  I  shall  try  to  show  you  how  they  have  settled 
that  question  in  an  amicable  way,  and  to  my  mind  in  a  perfectly  fair  and  equitable  manner. 
However,  that  is  a  long  story,  and  I  suggest  that  we  meet  tomorrow  night  and  go  over  it. 

Sylvester — Very  well  (looking  at  his  watch)  ;  I  am  surprised  at  the  lateness  of  the 
hour.  It  is  nearly  midnight.  Let  us  go  and  be  back  promptly  at  eight  tomorrow  night 
and  we  can  have  time  to  discuss  that  question  fully,  as  I  am  quite  anxious  to  know  how 
they  get  along  where  there  are  so  many  conflicting  views  on  this  universal  theme,  religion. 

Horace — Good  night,  all.     I  shall  expect  you  at  eight. 

Rev.  Jones,  Sylvester  and  Robert — A  short  farewell.     We  will  be  here  promptly. 


CHAPTER  V. 


RELIGION  AND  MORALITY— WHAT  THEY  ARE,  AND  HOW  THEY  MAN- 
•    AGE  THESE  QUESTIONS. 

Horace — Good  evening,  gentlemen.  I  am  glad  to  see  you.  Walk  right  in  and  make 
yourselves  comfortable. 

Rev.  David  Jones — Good  evening.  I  want  to  introduce  my  friend,  Prof.  Johnson, 
who  is  Superintendent  of  Education  in  the  city,  and  who,  having  before  heard  something 
of  Equitania,   asked   the   privilege   of   being   here   tonight. 

Horace — Glad  to  see  you,  Mr.  Johnson,  the  more  because  I  know  of  your  splendid 
work  here  and  am  sure  you  will  be  interested  in  the  discussion  tonight. 

In  civilized  society  there  are  religious,  moral,  civil  and  social  acts  or  duties  which 
individuals  may  or  should  perform;  and  hence  rules  and  regulations  to  define  these; 
urging  their  performance,  the  reasons  therefor,  the  ground  of  authority  upon  which  they 
rest,  the  benefits  which  may  accrue  from  their  observance,  and  the  damage  which  may 
result  from  their  neglect,  should  be  set  forth  by  those  who  have  or  are  assigned  the 
authority  over  intelligent  and  reasonable  beings,  if  they  are  to  be  held  accountable  for 
their  obedience  or  disobedience  to  such  rules,  laws,  commands  or  regulations. 

These  different  acts  in  human  life  may  be  defined  as  follows: 

1 .  Religious  acts  or  duties  are  all  such  as  one  performs,  or  should  observe  in 
communing  with,  and  service  of  his  God. 

2.  Moral  acts  or  duties  are  those  which  one  performs,  or  should  observe  toward 
his  fellowmen,  and  other  lower  creatures. 

3.  Civil  acts  or  duties  are  those  which  one  performs;  or  should  perform  to  his 
fellowmen,  and  other  creatures,  because  his  state  requires  them. 

4.  Social  acts  or  duties  are  such  as  one  performs,  or  should  discharge  toward  his 
fellowmen,  as  may  be  required  by  the  society  in  which  he  moves,  the  profession, 
business,  trade  or  occupation  which  he  follows. 

Now  religion  is  man's  recognition  of  his  accountability  to  God.  It  is  man's  con- 
sciousness of  his  responsibility  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe.  The  very  word. 
Religion,  means  that  which  binds  man  back  to  the  source  of  his  being.  It  is  the  link  or 
bridge  which  connects  every  human  being  with  the  Author  of  the  universe.  It  is  the 
belief  or  faith  of  the  individual  which  makes  the  connection.  Upon  this  link,  bridge,  or 
faith  are  built  various  systems  telling  men  what  they  are  to  believe  concerning  this 
Supreme  Being,  and  their  relations  and  "duties  to  Him.  And  because  of  man's  imperfect 
knowledge  these  systems  are  imperfect,  and  it  is  for  this  reason  that  so  many  forms  of 
religion  prevail.  Each  one,  however,  is  the  effort  of  the  human  soul  to  get  back  into 
harmony  with  the  source  of  its  being. 

Morality  is  the  sum  of  all  the  duties  which  man  owes  to  his  fellowmen  and  the 
lower  animals,  because  of  his  kinship  to  the  former,  and  his  God-given  authority  over 
the  latter. 

Every  human  being,  whether  in  darkest  Africa,  the  dungeons  of  Europe,  or  the 
freedom  of  America,  has  the  natural  right,  which  no  power  on  earth  nor  in  hades  can 
usurp  or  destroy,  to  worship  or  not  as  he  pleases;  and  any  attempt  at  compulsion  is  a 
usurpation  of  authority  never  yet  conferred  by  the  Almighty  upon  any.  Therefore  the 
person,  tribe,  or  nation  who  is  thus  coerced  or  threatened  may  justly  and  rightly  rebel, 
using  any  means  necessary  to  bring  about,  or  maintain  such  freedom. 

I  do  not  ask  for  myself  anything  in  this  respect  which  I  would  not  freely  grant  to 
every  other  human  being.  I  could  not  justly  ask  more.  I  would  not  in  equity  give  less. 
I  am  not  willing  to  compel  the  Buddhist  to  worship  in  my  way,  nor  will  I  submit  if  he 
attempts  to  force  me  into  his  manner  of  worship. 

(77) 


7S  EQUITANIA.   OR   THK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

Daniel  ventured  to  face  the  lions  in  the  den  rather  than  swerve  from  his  religious 
duties  and  loyalty  to  Jehovah.  So  that  no  man  need  fear  he  is  wrong  in  stoutly  main- 
taining and  forcibly  defending  this  God-given  right,  freedom  to  worship  God  accordmg 
to  the  dictates  of  his  own  conscience. 

The  only  being  in  all  the  universe,  so  far  as  we  have  knowledge  in  such  matters, 
who  has  absolute  right  to  man's  worship,  obedience  and  religious  devotion  and  could,  if 
ever  man  could  be  coerced  into  such  worship  is  Jehovah,  the  Creator  and  upholder  of 
man,  as  well  as  atl  other  beings.  And  yet  even  He  does  not  do  so,  but  distinctly  ami 
positively  gives  man   the  power  and  freedom  of  choice. 

"Come  now  and  let  us  reason  together,  saith  the  Lord."  "Choose  ye  this  day 
whom  ye  will  serve."  "Whosoever  will,  let  him  come."  So  that  it  is  not  only  highly 
presumptuous  for  mere  man  to  assume  the  right  or  prerogative  to  dictate  a  religious  course 
for  his  fellow  beings,  or  strive  to  compel  them  to  a  definite  religious  belief  and  practice; 
but  far  more,  it  is  a  positive  injustice  and  a  diabolical  sin  which  is  specifically  condemned 
and  is  only  practiced  by  the  devil  and  his  allies  who  are  either  willing  dupes,  or  deceived 
and  unsuspecting  victims  of  his  malicious  wiles. 

The  Mohammedan  religion  made  rapid  and  mighty  conquest  by  the  sword;  but 
true  Christianity  has  always  done  its  best  and  most  successful  work  by  moral  suasion, 
by  the  simple  preaching  of  the  Gospel,  living  and  exempHfying  its  precepts  and  truths  in 
the  daily  lives  of  its  adherents. 

Note  Gen.  14:13  and  24  where  we  are  told  Abraham  was  confederate  with  Mamre, 
Aner  and  Eschol  who,  like  himself,  were  heads  of  small  colonies,  tribes  or  settlements, 
and  they  were  joined  together  for  mutual,  material  protection  and  benefit,  for  they 
joined  him  in  the  release  of  Lot  and  his  possession  when  they  were  captured  and  carried 
away  by  Chedorlaomer,  Tidal,  Amraphael  and  Arioch,  who  likewise  were  marauding 
kings,  or  tribal  heads  plundering  and  pillaging  where  they  dared.  Although  joined  with 
these  tribes,  or  nations  for  such  material  and  commercial  enterprises,  he  did  not  allow 
them  to  influence,  change  or  interfere  with  his  religion  or  morals. 

Melchizadek,  too,  was  a  king  of  Salem,  and  priest  of  the  Most  High  God  living  in 
this  region  at  the  time  of  Abram's  triumph  and  prosperity,  each  man,  apparently,  of 
that  day  and  age,  having  his  own  personal  relationship  to  God,  and  following  his  own 
conscience,  doing  what  he  pleased  in  all  matters  religious;  none  of  these  like  Abram, 
Abimelech,  Melchizedek,  Moses,  Joshua,  Samuel,  David,  Elijah,  Elisha,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah 
or  Daniel  ever  attempted  to  force  their  religious  beliefs  or  moral  practices  upon  any 
surrounding  nation  or  people.  And  later,  when  Christ  came  as  the  great  fulfillment  of 
the  Jewish  prophecy,  and  taught  the  most  perfect  and  complete  religion  the  world  has 
ever  known.  He  taught  the  same  great  principles  of  freedom  of  choice  in  religion  and 
urged  with  all  the  power  of  His  life,  example  and  words,  that  this  was  to  be  the  way  of 
propagating  the  truth,  teaching  truth,  enlightening  the  mind  and  persuading  the  judgment 
to  accept  and  adopt  the  right  and  truth,  for  their  own  sake.  Hence  it  was  he  said  to  his 
disciples,  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me"  (by 
voluntary  choice).  "Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach  the  Gospel  to  every  creature, 
teaching  (not  compelling)  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you, 
and  lo!  I  am  with  you  alway,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  Can  it  be  possible  the 
Lord  is  not  so  manifestly  with  his  church  and  there  is  so  much  complaint  in  the  United 
States  of  lukewarmness  and  lack  of  power,  because  they  are  trying  to  legislate  (compel) 
men  to  goodness,  instead  of  doing  the  work  as  He  commanded?  I  do  not  find  any  promise 
of  the  Master  to  be  with  His  people  if  they  should  try  to  adopt  some  new  or  progressive 
plan,  and  it  may  be  possible  that  the  church  is  too  headstrong  to  follow,  but  persists  in, 
trying  to  lead  in  ways  He  does  not  approve. 

Daniel,  Shadrach,  Meshech,  and  Abednego  were  capives  in  a  foreign  land  with  a 
religion  of  their  own  different  from  that  of  their  captors,  and  yet  rose  to  high  honor 
and  maintained  their  honor  and  loyalty.  When  effort  was  made  to  force  them  to  change 
their  religion  and  adopt  that  of  their  captors,  they  rebelled  and  even  ventured  death 
rather  than  change,  but  at  the  same  time  were  loyal  subjects  and  good  citizens,  as  well 
as  faithful  officers  under  Nebuchadnezzar. 

It  was  the  spirit  of  the  Master  which  made  early  Christianity  so  victorious  and  power- 
ful, and  it  was  the  departing  from  this  spirit  in  the  days  of  Constantine,  and  at  sundry 
times  since,  attempting  to  use  force  or  coercion  that  has  crippled  the  church  and  made 


TPIE   SUPREMACY   OF    LOVE 

it  ineffective  just  in  proportion  as  dictation  and  coercion  has  taken  the  place  of  the 
holy  life  and  forceful  persuasion  of  love.  As  compulsion  comes  in,  the  pious  life  dis- 
appears. As  force  makes  manifest  its  power,  love  goes  out.  The  devil  would  drive, 
Christ  would  win.  Satan  would  conquer  by  force,  deceit  or  trickery.  Jesus  would  win  by 
example,  a  life  of  peace  and  love.  Evil  would  prevail  by  ignorance,  by  deception  and 
treachery.  Right  prevails  by  knowledge,  truth  and  frankness.  The  devil  would  rule 
by  deception,  enslavement  and  force.  Christ  would  rule  by  the  power  of  truth,  freedom 
and  persuasive  love.  So  that  in  this  land  of  Equity  the  true  Christian  could  and  ought 
to  be  more  able  to  win  adherents  to  Christianity  from  their  neighbors  by  the  power  of  a 
Godly  life,  the  persuasiveness  of  truth,  and  the  daily  example  of  a  service  of  love,  than 
in  any  other  way.  It  is,  I  believe,  a  fact  of  universal  application,  that  truth  in  every 
realm  of  science,  morals  and  religion,  never  needs  to  be  bolstered  up  by  physical  force, 
but  can  and  always  does  win  its  way  against  every  evil  or  false  doctrine  by  its  own 
vital  energy;  and  it  is  a  proof  of  error  and  weakness  whenever  such  methods  are  used, 
whether  in  theology,  jurisprudence,  medicine,  or  any  branch  of  human  thought.  And 
all  the  history  of  the  Christian  church,  especially  in  early  days,  and  now  the  church  in 
foreign  lands  conclusively  proves  that  just  in  proportion  as  the  missionary  sticks  to  his 
business  of  winning  men  to  Christ  by  persuasion,  service,  instruction  and  example,  and 
leaves  politics,  governments,  and  coercion  alone,  just  in  that  degree  does  he  make  real 
converts  to  Christianity.  Also  the  slum  work,  the  City  Mission  work  in  our  large  cities, 
and  the  Salvation  Army  work  prove  the  same  thing,  for  by  their  self-sacrificing  devotion  to 
showing  lost  men  the  way  of  life  by  faith  in  Christ,  His  saving  power,  and  His  keeping 
power,  regardless  of  what  the  laws  are  in  the  community,  no  matter  how  great  the 
temptations,  yet  the  Christ  that  these  life  saving  institutions  preach,  is  "able  to  save  to 
the  uttermost,"  and  they  do  not  need  to  wait  until  the  devil  is  willing  for  them  to  be  saved; 
they  do  not  need  to  wait  for  better  laws  in  the  community  nor  until  temptation  is  taken 
out  of  their  way  before  this  Christ  can  save.  They  offer  a  real  power  that  can  hold  a 
man  in  spite  of  the  devil  and  all  of  his  allies;  if  only  the  man  wants  to  put  himself 
wholly,  entirely  and  forever  on  the  side  of  Christ  and  the  right.  Just  in  proportion  as 
men  are  taught  to  rely  upon  external  supports,  surroundings,  conditions  and  human  friends 
or  agencies,  so  do  they  in  actual  fact  rely  less  upon  the  divine  and  eternal  power,  which 
alone  is  the  efficient  agency  in  real  salvation.  Christ  has  never  yet  entered  into  an 
alliance,  or  co-operation  with  Satan  to  save  a  nation  nor  an  individual.  He  asks  no 
favors  nor  quarter  from  the  devil  and  his  allies  in  this  warfare  for  souls.  Christ  saves 
absolutely  at  the  suggestion  of  his  own  will  and  love,  and  with  the  choice  and  free  co- 
operation of  the  individual  man  or  woman  who  wants  to  be  saved.  If  Christ  and  Buddha 
are  then  fairly  represented  side  by  side  in  this  Land  of  Equity  by  their  respective  followers 
and  representatives,  it  will  not  be  Christ's  followers  who  will  need  a  wall  of  partition  built 
around  them,  for  they  have  the  Truth,  and  it  is  the  Truth  which  both  conquers  and 
makes  free.  Let  the  Buddhist  and  the  Christian  teach  and  live  his  religion.  The  one 
which  is  founded  upon  Truth  will  prevail  by  the  simple  force  of  its  own  eternal  merit. 
In  this  land  then  where  four  religions  and  peoples  have  so  mysteriously  been  thus  brought 
together  give  all  an  equal  and  fair  chance,  but  do  not  coerce  any.  They  as  human  beings 
can  live  together  under  laws  of  mutual  temporal  advantage  without  any  trespassing  upon 
the  religious  rights  of  the  other. 

Christians  want,  and  are  certainly  entitled  to  all  the  protection,  justice,  and  equity 
in  civil  matters  that  others  want. 

The  civilized  and  intelligent  Jew,  Turk,  or  Gentile  wants  protection  and  security  in 
his  natural  rights  and  possessions.  That  is  to  say,  all  civilized  peoples  agree  that  these 
natural  rights  will  include  the  right  to  life,  liberty  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  that 
these  fairly  imply  security  and  safety  in  one's  possessions  (natural,  and  honestly  acquired) 
and  freedom  in  one's  use  of  time,  talent,  opportunities,  possessions,  and  exercise  of 
religious  convictions,  so  long  as  the  equal  rights  of  others  are  not  infringed.  All  civilized 
people  want  about  the  same  general  protection,  opportunities  and  privileges,  and  the 
principles  to  govern  men  in  civil  affairs  are  universally  applicable  to  all  men  in  a  state  of 
civilization.  No  person  now  wants  (nor  ever  in  the  past  has  wanted)  to  be  coerced  to 
any  particular  form  of  worship,  or  special  religious  belief  and  practice. 

It  was  the  glory  and  the  shrewd  wisdom  of  the  best  days  of  Rome  that  every  nation 
or  people  she  conquered  was  allowed  to  keep  its  own  religion,  and  as  the  country  or  tribe 


80  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

became  incorporated  into  and  an  integral  part  of  the  Republic  or  Empire,  its  religion  too 
was  adopted  as  one  of  the  many  recognized  by  the  state.  So  that  no  man  need  discard 
or  give  up  his  religion  to  become  a  Roman  citizen,  and  no  tribe  or  people  need  abandon 
or  change  its  religion  to  become  a  real  vital  part  of  the  Empire. 

In  fact  it  is  a  fundamental  part  of  man's  nature  to  desire  to  exercise  absolute  freedom 
of  choice  in  all  matters  of  religion;  nor  could  he  be  a  man,  a  rational,  reverent,  responsible 
being,  unless  he  had  this  power.  If  then  he  is  such  a  being  and  has  been  endowed  by 
his  Maker  with  this  power  of  choice  and  the  right  to  exercies  it  as  an  individual,  surely 
no  man  has,  nor  combination  of  men  have,  any  right  to  control  it  or  take  it  away.  So 
that  fairly  and  intelligently  considered  this  is  one  of  the  indisputable  and  incontrovertible 
inalienable  rights  of  man  always  and  everywhere.  And  in  just  so  far  as  this  universal 
right  is  acknowledged  and  given,  just  in  so  far  is  that  people,  city  or  government  enlight- 
ened, civilized  and  progressive.  On  the  other  hand  in  so  far  as  this  right  is  denied  to  the 
citizens,  or  to  any  citizen  of  a  community  or  government,  just  in  so  far  is  it  clinging  to 
barbarism,  to  superstitution  and  the  relics  of  ignorance.  Desire  for  freedom  of  action  in 
following  the  dictates  of  conscience  has  been  the  motive  power  behind  much  of  the 
real  progress  and  advance  in  civilization.  Conscience  is  the  divine  element  or  attribute 
of  the  individual  soul  which  cries  out,  "I  ought  to  do  right."  This  is  the  cry  for  peace  or 
harmony  with  the  great  source  of  our  being;  for  doing  right  is  neither  more  nor  less  than 
man  the  finite,  rational  creature  acting  in  perfect  harmony  with  the  infinite  Creator.  But 
since  the  fall  of  man,  ignorance  has  so  beclouded  him,  pride  so  overwhelmed  him  and 
evil  desires  so  bitterly  consumed  and  weakened  him  that  he  has  been  unable  of  himself 
to  reach  the  goal,  though  he  has  diligently  sought  it  through  education  and  every  other 
conceivable  means  known  to  the  human  mind.  But  for  this  very  reason  it  is  all  the  more 
imperative  that  each  individual  person  be  allowed  perfect  freedom  in  following  the  voice 
of  conscience  until  he  finds  this  peace  and  harmony  in  union  with  his  Divine  source. 
And  further  it  is  because  no  mere  man,  however  learned,  exalted,  or  wise,  is  an  infallible 
guide  and  therefore  is  not  always  competent  to  direct  and  govern  another  soul,  that  each 
must  be  left  to  himself;  and  only  advisory,  persuasive  and  educational  means  are  justifi- 
able over  the  conscience  of  another.  In  this  sphere  the  individual  is  supreme  and  no  man 
or  combination  of  men  have  any  right  of  compulsion  or  force,  and  all  such  is  usurpation 
of  authority.  Education,  culture,  training,  giving  of  experience,  imparting  the  knowledge 
of  facts  and  the  exercise  of  persuasion  through  personal  appeal  and  influence  are  right, 
proper,  and  legitimate  means  of  effort  to  have  others  see  the  truth  as  we  see  it,  but  coercion 
is  and  always  has  been  unjustifiable  both  because  it  destroys  the  freedom  of  the  individual, 
and  because  it  cannot  be  effective  in  the  development  of  moral  character. 

When  Louis  XIV  of  France  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes  in  1685,  which  Edict  had 
been  given  in  1598  by  Henry  IV,  called  Henry  of  Narvarre,  and  which  gave  to  the  French 
Protestants  called  Huguenots,  religious  liberty  and  gave  them  almost  the  same  political 
rights  as  Catholics,  nearly  500,000  of  her  citizens  fled  to  other  lands  for  freedom  and 
religious  liberty.  A  recent  and  able  writer  says  of  this  incident,  "The  Huguenots  formed 
a  large  proportion  of  the  best  middle  class  of  the  kingdom — its  manufacturers,  its  mer- 
chants, its  skilled  and  thrifty  artisans.  Infamous  efforts  were  made  to  detain  them  in 
the  country  and  then  force  them  to  apostacy  or  hold  them  under  punishment  if  they 
withstood.  *  *  *  Vast  numbers  escaped  '^  *  -"^  carrying  their  skill,  their  knowledge, 
their  industry,  and  their  energy  into  Holland,  England,  Switzerland,  all  parts  of  Protestant 
Germany,  and  across  the  ocean  to  America.     France  was  half  ruined  by  the  loss." 

The  Inquisition,  really  began  in  1204  when  Pope  Innocent  the  III  appointed  a  Papal 
Delegate  v/ith  authority  to  judge  and  punish  all  misbelievers;  but  it  did  not  reach  its 
greatest  barbarities  until  the  latter  half  of  the  15th  century,  when  the  Spanish  Inquisition 
was  fully  established  at  Savile  in  1480,  when  imprisonment  and  the  stake  were  meted 
out  to  heretics  and  their  property  confiscated  by  the  church  and  state.  A  writer  speaking 
of  the  Spanish  Inquisition  under  Thomas  of  Torquemada,  its  most  notorious  leader,  says, 
"During  the  eighteen  years  of  administration,  reckoning  from  1480  to  1498  he  sacrificed, 
according  to  Llorente's  calculation  about  1  14,000  victims,  of  whom  10,220  were  burned 
alive,  6,680  burned  in  effigy,  and  97,000  condemned  to  perpetual  imprisonment  or  public 
penitence.  He,  too,  it  was  who  compelled  Ferdinand  to  drive  the  Jews  from  his  dominions. 
To  compute  the  loss  of  wealth  and  population  inflicted  upon  Spain  by  these  mad  edicts 
would  be  impossible." 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY   DEMANDED  81 

And  all  of  this  for  what?  Simply  to  coerce  all  citizens  to  adopt  and  practice  the 
state  or  Catholic  religion. 

It  is  said,  too,  that  even  Luther,  the  great  reformer,  was  most  intolerant  with  the 
Jews,  for  his  Apologist,  Seckendorff,  says  that  he  taught  concerning  the  Jews,  "Their 
synagogues  ought  to  be  destroyed,  their  houses  pulled  down,  their  prayer  books,  the 
Talmud  and  even  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  to  be  ftiken  from  them.  Their  Rabbis 
ought  to  be  forbidden  to  teach,  and  be  compelled  to  gain  their  livelihood  by  some  labor." 
I  am  nowhere  commanded,  nor  asked  to  use  coercion,  force  or  compulsion  upon 
any  of  my  fellowmen  in  matters  of  religion. 

God  wants  a  voluntary  service  upon  the  part  of  human  beings,  and  therefore  it 
must  be  by  choice  and  not  coercion. 

Coercion,  or  external  force  might  affect  the  outward  form,  but  could  not  affect  the 
inward  or  real  spirit  of  the  man,  and  the  heart  must  be  right,  and  it  only  is  acceptable 
to  God  when  by  an  internal  desire  in  Spirit  and  in  Truth  it  chooses  obedience  to  the 
Divine  Father. 

John  Calvin,  who,  because  of  his  joining  the  Reformation  and  refusing  to  follow 
Roman  Catholicism  which  was  the  state  religion,  was  banished  from  Paris  and  his  native 
country,  wrote  his  "Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion"  as  a  plea  to  the  king  of  France, 
and  on  behalf  of  his  countrymen,  to  secure  for  them  religious  liberty.  In  these  he  shows 
the  importance  of  freedom  in  matters  of  religion  for  in  his  "Dedication  of  these  Institutes," 
he  says : 

"For  I  shall  not  be  afraid  to  acknowledge,  that  this  treatise  contains  a  summary 
of  that  very  doctrine,  which,  according  to  their  clamors,  deserves  to  be  punished 
with  imprisonment,  banishment,  proscription,  and  flames,  and  to  be  exterminated 
from  the  face  of  the  earth. 

"But  I  plead  the  cause  of  all  the  godly  and  consequently  of  Christ  himself, 
which,  having  been  m  these  times  persecuted  and  trampled  on  in  all  ways  in  your 
kingdom,  now  lies  m  a  most  deplorable  stale;  and  this  indeed  rather  through  the 
tyranny  of  certain  Pharisees,  than  with  your  knowledge.  How  this  comes  to  pass 
is  foreign  to  my  present  purpose  to  say;  but  it  certainly  lies  in  a  most  afflicted 
state.  For  the  ungodly  have  gone  to  such  lengths,  that  the  truth  of  Christ,  if  not 
vanquished,  dissipated,  and  entirely  destroyed,  is  buried,  as  it  were,  in  ignoble 
obscurity,  while  the  poor,  despised  church,  is  either  destroyed  by  cruel  massacres, 
or  driven  away  into  ba-nishment,  or  menaced  and  terrified  into  total  silence." 

In  399  B.  C.  the  great  philosopher  was  condemned  to  death  for  not  following  the 
state  religion,  as  noted  in  the  following  decree, 

"Socrates  is  guilty  of  crime,  first  for  not  worshipping  the  gods  the  city  worships, 
and  for  introducing  new  divinities  of  his  own;  next  for  corrupting  the  youth.  The 
penalty  due  is  death." 

And  mark  you  this  so-called  corrupting  the  youth  was  teaching  them  better  morals 
and  religion  than  the  state  and  society  taught  them.  Shall  we  of  this  enlightened  age 
go  back  more  than  2,000  years  to  find  a  barbarous  and  cruel  precedent  by  which  to  con- 
demn those  who  do  not  agree  with  our  form  of  religious  observance?  True,  we  do  not 
kill  those  who  differ  from  us;  but  if  we  condemn  and  forbid  them  spending  this  day 
the  Sabbath  (which  to  some  of  us  is  a  religious  day)  in  their  own  way,  are  we  not  acting 
upon  the  same  narrow,  self-righteous  and  bigoted  principle? 

The  many  thousands  whom  Mahomet  and  his  successors  changed  in  their  religious 
professions  at  the  point  of  the  sword,  were  not  sincere  worshippers  of  God  according  even 
to  Mohammedan  belief,  but  acquiesced  in  the  forms  and  professed  their  beliefs  to  save 
their  bodies  from  suffering.  So  that  assent  of  the  lips  is  one  thing,  which  too  often  may 
be  obtained  easily  without  consent  of  the  mind;  but  conviction  of  the  mind,  approval  of 
the  judgment  and  determination  of  the  will  are  quite  different  things.  By  force,  coer- 
cion, or  terrible  threats  you  may  sometimes  gain  the  former,  but  you  never,  no  never, 
gain  the  latter.  He  is  unwise  who  thinks  the  former  equivalent  to  the  latter,  or  is  willing 
to  accept  it  as  a  substitute  for  the  latter.  Christ  never  undertook  himself,  nor  authorized 
any  of  His  followers  to  try  to  convert  men  from  their  evil  ways,  their  unbeliefs,  theii) 
false  religions  by  any  such  means  as  force,  coercion  or  compulsion ;  knowing  too  well  that 
He  had  given  man  his  freedom  of  will,  a  reason,  a  judgment,  an  intelfigence  to  be  dealt 


82  EgUlTAXlA,   OK   TIIK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

with  along  rational  lines,  not  along  the  lines  of  mechanics,  nor  even  of  brute  force. 
Hence  from  the  very  Garden  of  Eden  where  our  first  parents  were  given  freedom  of  choice 
amid  opportunities  of  obedience  and  right  doing  or  disobedience  and  wron?  doing,  down  to 
the  time  when  Joshua  boldly  stood  up  and  said  to  Israel,  "Choose  ye  this  day  whom  ye  will 
serve,"  and  Elijah,  "If  the  Lord  be  God,  serve  Him,  if  Baal,  then  serve  him,"  and  on 
through  the  earthly  life  of  Chrfst  himself  in  which  he  taught  for  three  years  this  absolute 
freedom  of  man  to  choose  His  leadership  and  voluntarily  follow  Him,  or  reject  Him  and 
follow  Satan,  as  when  He  said,  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laderi 
and  1  will  give  you  rest.  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and  learn  of  me,  for  my  yoke  is  easy 
and  my  burden  is  light."  "If  any  man  will  come  after  me,  let  him  deny  himself  and 
take  up  his  cross  and  follow  me."  Always  a  matter  of  choice,  an  entire  freedom  of  the 
will  to  choose  or  reject  the  truth  and  His  gracious  offer.  "Ye  will  not  come  unto  me 
that  ye  might  have  life." 

The  truth  of  this  assertion  is  well  illustrated  and  the  futility  of  mere  profession  and 
lip  service  is  thoroughly  demonstrated  in  the  first  of  the  great  French  heroic  poems, 
"The  Song  of  Roland,"  founded  upon  the  historical  fact  that  Charlemagne  on  Aug.  15, 
778,  when  returning  from  an  expedition  into  Spain,  where  the  Saracens  then  held  sway, 
had  his  rearguard  attacked  when  marching  through  the  passes  in  the  Pyrenees  and 
totally  annihilated. 

In  the  poem,  Roland  is  made  nephew  of  the  King  and  not  only  best  beloved  of  his 
noble  followers,  but  the  most  worthy  soldier  and  in  charge  of  the  best  Knights  of  the 
army,  who  formed  this  rearguard.  The  Arch  Bishop  of  Turpin  not  only  accompanied 
the  army  as  its  chaplain,  but  stayed  near  Roland  in  the  final  death  struggle  and  was 
almost  equally  valient  in  war  and  personal  combat  with  his  leader.  The  story  is  that 
Charlemagne  went  against  King  Marsil  of  Spain  for  no  very  good  reason  except  that 
the  Spaniards  were  followers  of  Mahomet  and  there  was  some  little  dissension  among  them 
and  it  gave  Charlemagne,  the  champion  of  Christianity,  a  chance  to  win  fame  and  by 
force  of  arms  get  a  possible  submission  of  these  Saracens  to  Christianity  and  make  them 
pay  tribute  to  the  great  King  of  the  Franks.  He  had  now  overrun  almost  the  whole  of 
this  country  and  King  Marsil  with  his  hosts  was  garrisoned  at  Saragossa,  while  Charle- 
magne just  having  captured  Cordres  was  encamped  and  resting  his  army  there; 

Marsil  calls  upon  his  counsellors  to  give  advice  what  to  do  and  the  wisest  of  them 
said: 

"Be  not  dismayed: 
Proffer  to  Karl,  the  haughty  and  high. 
Lowly  friendship  and  fealty; 
Ample  largess  lay  at  his  feet. 
Bear  the  lion  and  greyhound  fleet. 
Seven  hundred  camels  his  tribute  be, 
A  thousand  hawks  that  have  moulted  free. 
Let  full  four  thousand  mules  be  told, 
Laden  with  silver  enow  and  gold 
For  fifty  wagons  to  bear  away; 
So   shall    his    soldiers    receive    their   pay. 
Say,  too  long  hath  he  warred  in  Spain, 
Let  him  turn  to  France — to  his  Aix — again. 
At  St.  Michael's  feast  you  will  thither  speed. 
Bend  your  heart  to  the  Christian  creed. 
And  his  liegeman  be  in  duty  and  deed. 

"Ye  shall  see  the  host  of  the  Franks  disband 
And  hie  them  back  into  France  their  land; 
Each  to  his  home  as  beseemeth  well. 
And  Karl  unto  Aix — to  his  own  Chappelle. 
He  will  hold  high  feast  on  Saint  Michael's  day 
And  the  time  of  your  tryst  shall  pass  away." 

This  plan  of  deception  was  agreed  upon  that  great  offers  of  sincerity  and  professions 
of  loyalty  as  well  as  agreement  to  be  at  Charlemagne's  capital  Aix  la  Chappelle  by  St. 


RELIGIOUS   FREEDOM   A    KIOIIT  83 

Michael's  day  to  receive  Christian  baptism  and  profess  allegiance  to  the  great  King;  but 
in  reality  they  were  playing  for  time  and  felt  if  they  could  get  him  out  of  their  country 
and  his  army  disbanded  they  could  safely  refuse  to  fulfill  their  pledges. 

"So  does  King  Marsil  his  counsil  end. 
"Lords,"  he  said,  "On  my  errand  wend; 

While  olive  branches  in  hand  ye  bring. 

Say  from  me  unto  Karl  the  king. 
For  the  sake  of  his  God  let  him  pity  show; 
And  ere  over  a  month  shall  come  and  go. 

With  a  thousand  faithful  to  my  race, 

I  will  follow  swiftly  upon  his  trace, 
Freely   receive   his   Christian   law. 
And  his  liegeman  be  in  love  and  awe. 

Hostages  asks  he?  It  shall  be  done." 

Charlemagne  accepted  their  offers  as  follows: 

"Fair  Sir  Gan,"  the  Emperor  spake, 
"This  my  message  to  Marsil  take; 
He  shall  make  confession  of  Christ's  belief 

And  I  yield  him,  full  half  of  Spain  in  fief 
In  the  other  half  shall  Count  Roland  reign. 
If  he  choose  not  the  terms  I  now  ordain 

I  will  march  unto  Saragossa's  gate, 

Beseige  and  capture  the  city  straight. 
Take  and  bind  him  both  hands  and  feet. 
Lead  him  to  Aix,  to  my  royal  seat. 

There  to  be  tried  and  judged  and  slain. 

Dying  a  death  of  di<:grace  and  pain. 
I  have  sealed  the  scroll  of  my  command. 
Deliver  it  unto  the  heathen's  hand." 

Charlemagne  then  began  to  retire  toward  France  with  his  victorious  army,  leaving 
Roland  and  a  chosen  twenty  thousand  to  guard  the  rear,  when  by  a  traitorous  plot  on 
the  part  of  Ganelon,  one  of  Charlemagne's  chief  men,  the  King  of  the  Sacracens  fell  upon 
them  in  this  narrow  pass  and  totally  destroyed  it  by  killing  them  every  one,  though  at 
a  terrible  loss  of  his  own  vast  army.  Charlemagne  being  at  last  warned  of  this  battle  by 
the  long  and  loud  blast  of  Roland's  horn  shortly  before  he  dies,  wheels  about  his  entire 
army  and  hastens  to  the  scene  of  conflict;  but  arriving  too  late  to  save  any  one  of  his 
mighty  warriors  who  had  been  in  the  rearguard,  he  follows  the  flying  Saracens,  kills  their 
king;   destroys  the  army  and  captures  the  Queen,  whom  he  takes  back  to  France  as  a 

^       '  "Day  passed;   the  shades  of  night  drew  on. 

And  moon  and  stars  refulgent  shone. 

Now  Karl  is  Saragoosa's  lord. 

And  a  thousand  Franks,  by  the  King's  award. 
Roam  the  city,  to  search  and  see 
Where  mosque  or  synagogue  may  be. 

With  axe  and  mallet  of  steel  in  hand, 

They  let  not  idol  nor  image  stand; 
The  shrines  of  sorcery  down  they  hew, 
For  Karl  hath  faith  in  God  the  True, 

And  will  him  righteous  service  do. 
The  bishops  have  the  water  blessed. 
The  heathen  to  the  font  are  pressed. 

If  any  Karl's  command  gainsay, 

He  has  him  hanged  or  burned  straightway. 
So  a  hundred  thousand  to  Christ  are  won; 
But  Bramimonde  the  queen   alone 

Shall  unto  France  be  captive  brought, 

And  in  love  be  her  conversion  wrought." 


84  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

Then  after  his  return  to  Aix  and  Ganelon  had  been  tied  to  four  fierce  stallions  and 
torn  limb  from  limb  as  a  traitor  and  thirty  more  of  his  kin  put  to  death, 

"Now  was  the  Emperor's  vengenance  done, 
And  he  called  to  the  bishops  of  France  anon 

With  those  of  Bavaria  and  Allemain, 

'A  noble  captive  is  in  my  train. 
She  hath  hearkened  to  sermon  and  homily. 
And  a  true  believer  in  Christ  will  be; 

Baptize  her  so  that  her  soul  have  grace.' 

They  say,  'Let  ladies  of  noble  race, 
At  her  christening,  be  her  sponsors  vowed.' 
And  so  there  gathered  a  mighty  crowd. 

At  the  baths  of  Aix  was  the  wonderous  scene 

There  baptized  they  the  Spanish  queen; 
Julienne  they  have  named  her  name. 
In  faith  and  truth  unto  Christ  she  came." 

Certainly  no  intelligent  person  today  would  think  of  making  converts  to  Christianity 
in  this  way! 

There  is  quite  a  difference  between  forcing  me  to  fulfill  a  contract  which  I  have 
voluntarily  made,  and  forcing  me  to  do  a  thing  which  another  simply  would  like  to  have 
me  do,  or  thinks  I  ought  to  do. 

As  an  intelligent,  rational  and  responsible  being  it  is  entirely  proper  and  right  for 
every  accepted  authority  to  do  the  former,  but  it  is  wholly  wrong  and  unjustifiable  to 
do  the  latter. 

Every  man  of  whatever  creed,  race,  nationality,  or  color,  is  rightfully  and  by  crea- 
tion the  artificer  of  his  own  character  and  builder  of  his  own  eternal  destiny,  and  there- 
fore no  man  is  made  to  fit  himself  for  Heaven  or  Hell  against  his  will;  nor  can  he  be,  no 
matter  what  his  environment,  but  he  must  and  does  choose  for  himself.  In  matters 
temporal,  he  may  choose  to  enlist  under  whatever  form  of  civil  government  he  pleases, 
and  this  of  course  is  a  voluntary  agreement  to  abide  by  and  support  the  laws  of  such 
government. 

Nebuchadnezzar,  the  king,  in  trying  to  force  the  three  Hebrew  captives  to  adopt 
his  religion,  or  worship  in  his  particular  way,  is  but  a  historical  example  of  all  those  who 
coerce  others  into  the  adoption  of  their  belief  or  religion.  In  such  cases,  persuasion, 
education,  culture,  and  training  are  always  legitimate  and  justifiable  means  to  use;  while 
force,  coercion,  and  compulsion  here  has  no  rightful  place. 

Daniel  recognized  the  right  of  the  King  to  make  laws  for  his  subjects,  but  he  also 
believed  it  better  to  suffer  the  physical  punishment  which  alone  he  could  inflict,  rather 
than  violate  what  he  believed  to  be  the  Will  of  his  God  and  suffer  for  that,  hence  the 
determination  not  to  violate  his  conscience.     Dan.    1  :5-8. 

Later  when  this  same  king  commanded  all  of  his  subjects  to  bow  down  and  worship 
before  the  golden  image  which  he  had  set  up,  the  three  Hebrew  captives,  who  were 
Daniel's  companions  determined  to  obey  God  rather  than  any  earthly  potentate.  Dan. 
3:  13-18,  and  so  they  were  cast  into  the  fiery  furnace,  but  no  hurt  came  to  them  as  shown 
in  Dan.   3:19-30. 

Then  note  how  Daniel  shows  the  king  in  the  interpretation  of  his  dream,  where 
the  King's  authority  really  comes  from,  and  how  God  holds  him  responsible  for  the 
exercise  of  that  authority,  how  he  punishes  him  for  reckless  disobedience  and  pride, 
and  when  the  punishment  has  wrought  its  good  work  upon  him  God  restores  him  to 
power,  and  now  since  he  has  learned  his  lesson  he  honors,  extols,  and  reveres  Jehovah 
"Who  pulleth  one  down  and  sefteth  up  another."     Dan.  4:24-37. 

And  again  Daniel  rebukes  Belshazzar  for  his  arrogance,  disobedience  and  forget- 
fulness  of  God,  and  gives  him  the  reasons  for  his  overthrow.  God  has  placed  him  upon 
the  throne,  and  his  knowledge  of  his  own  father's  punishment  and  how  Jehovah  had  dealt 
with  him  should  have  taught  the  son  reverence  and  obedience;  but  instead  when  given 
power  and  entrusted  with  authority  he  had  betrayed  both,  until  now  having  been  weighed 
in  the  balances  and  found  wanting,  he  was  rejected  and  his  kingdom  given  to  another. 
Dan.   5:18-28. 


RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM  A  RIGHT  85 

Both  of  these  examples  are  very  good  illustrations  of  how  God  allowed  men  to  have 
positions  of  trust,  honor,  power  and  influence  for  which  they  must  give  an  account  to 
Him.  And  He  alone  it  is  to  whom  men  must  acknowledge  supreme  allegiance,  and  no 
mere  man  can  nor  ought  to  have  the  right  of  coercion  in  matters  of  religion. 

When  God  created  man  he  placed  him  in  this  world  with  certain  capabiliiie?  and  gave 
him  absolute  freedom  to  do  as  he  might  choose,  with  power  over  the  beasts  cf  the  field, 
being  warned  of  the  evil  consequences  of  a  certain  course  of  action,  and  assured  of  the 
divine  favor  upon  condition  of  continual  obedience  to  the  divine  will  and  happiness  so 
long  as  complete  harmony  remained  between  himself  and  his  Maker. 

After  the  fall  by  disobedience,  the  man  and  his  wife  were  driven  forth  out  of  the 
garden,  clothed  by  the  Almighty  Himself  and  given  freedom  and  independence  to  follow 
their  own  course  at  will,  without  divine  intervention. 

Cain  was  warned  of  an  impending  evil  if  the  sin  brooding  in  his  heart  should  grow 
into  fruition,  and  after  he  had  killed  his  brother,  God  set  a  mark  upon  him  as  a  punish- 
ment and  warning.  When  the  world  had  grown  so  evil  as  to  greatly  need  purification, 
God  called  Noah  to  build  an  ark  for  the  saving  of  a  remnant  to  people  the  earth  after 
the  destruction  of  the  flood.  In  spite  of  all  this  good  man's  preaching  effort,  life  and 
work,  only  eight  human  beings  were  left  to  begin  filling  the  world  with  our  race.  After 
many  years  had  passed  and  the  people  had  been  scattered  into  many  places,  and  numerous 
languages  from  the  Tower  of  Babel,  and  cities  had  been  built  and  tribes  had  been  formed 
and  crude  or  more  enlightened  governments  had  been  constituted  among  men;  God 
called  Abraham  from  among  his  kindred  to  start  a  race,  a  natonality  which  should  in 
time  grow  into  a  society  strong  enough  to  form  a  government  among  men  which  should 
constitute  an  illustration  in  the  earth  of  God's  plans  and  power  and  good  will  to  men. 
In  this  He  took  an  active  directing  part,  showing  through  Moses,  Joshua  and  others  the 
duties  which  men  owed  to  Jehovah  as  given  in  the  first  four  commandments  of  the 
Decalogue,  and  the  duties  men  owe  to  one  another  in  the  several  walks  of  life  by  the  last 
six  commands  of  the  two  tables  of  stone.  These  later  were  exempHfied  in  detail  in  the 
laws  given  by  Moses,  Proverbs  of  Solomon  and  others.  When  in  the  course  of  time 
Christ  came  through  this  wonderful  people,  a  Savior  to  them  and  for  the  whole  world. 
He  showed  the  Father's  thought  for  mankind,  and  taught  supreme  love  to  God,  and 
love  to  all  men  as  the  whole  duty  of  man.  Here  again  more  clearly  than  ever  giving 
man  as  an  intelligent,  reasonable,  responsible  being  the  largest  possible  liberty  in  both 
thought  and  action  for  every  individual.  No  effort  was  made  here  to  compel  any  one 
to  believe  in  any  other  manner  than  as  he  might  himself  choose.  No  force,  no  coercion 
was  ever  used,  save  when  Christ  drove  the  money  changers  from  the  sacred  temple  as  a 
forcible  illustration  to  rebuke  their  sin.  Peter  and  John  submitted  to  stripes  and  imprison- 
ment, saying  quietly,  but  firmly,  "We  ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men."  It  has  ever 
been,  by  God's  direction,  a  matter  of  choice  for  men  to  serve  him  or  not.  It  was  only 
after  the  church  began  to  be  corrupt  that  it  took  upon  itself  the  prerogative  of  forcing 
men  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet  to  believe  this,  that  or  the  other  thing,  as  some  pre- 
tended interpreter  of  the  Scripture  might  dictate.  So  far  as  the  Bible  speaks  upon 
temporal  or  earthly  affairs  of  government,  that  of  the  Jews  is  the  only  one  in  which 
the  Almighty  has  given  any  details  as  to  how  it  should  be  managed,  and  here  the  directions 
were  specific  on  religion,  on  moral  and  civil  questions.  You  will  take  notice  that  no 
advice,  instruction  or  commands  were  ever  given  for  them  to  go  out  to  force  or  compel 
any  other  nation,  tribe  or  country  to  observe  their  laws  or  to  adopt  their  customs.  Pro- 
visions were  made  for  any  who  might  desire  to  come  in  with  them  and  voluntarily  become 
a  part  thereof,  and  their  relations  with  surrounding  nations  were  carefully  defined. 

When  Joseph  was  the  chief  man  of  Egypt  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  tried  to 
use  his  power  to  force  any  man  to  adopt  the  customs  of  his  religion. 

When  Daniel  was  the  chief  man  in  Babylon  there  is  no  evidence  that  he  ever  tried 
to  force  his  religion  or  its  practices  upon  his  inferiors.  You  cannot,  if  you  would,  make 
men  rehgious  by  force  or  compulsion;  and  neither  did  the  Almighty  ever  so  intend  it. 
In  fact  it  is  very  evident  that  he  determined  positively  to  the  contrary,  and  wished  to 
make  it  impossible  for  men  to  be  coerced  into  religion.  That  must  always  be  choice; 
and  here,  although  he  is  man's  Creator,  Preserver,  and  Bountiful  Benefactor,  giving  him 
all  that  he  has  to  enjoy,  and  having  endowed  him  with  the  immense  possibilities  of  His 
being,  nevertheless  man  is  left  free  to  choose  the  service  of  the  Supreme  Being  and  submit 


86  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

perfectly  to  His  will,  or  he  may  reject  that  service  and  live  in  open  rebellion  to  his  Maker. 
And  so  far  as  we  have  any  record  or  proper  information  on  the  subject,  God  has  never 
delegated  the  authority  to  any  man  or  government  either  civil  or  ecclesiastical  to  coerce 
man  into  the  worship  of  or  obedience  to  the  Supreme  Being.  I  grant  you,  that  men  and 
too  often  governments  have  tried  to  exercise  this  authority,  but  it  has  always  been  a 
usurpation  of  authority  and  never  God-given.  And  it  is  because  men  and  those  in 
authority  too  often  try  to  make  laws  which  shall  govern  and  control  the  religious  life, 
the  moral  life,  and  the  civil  life  of  its  citizens,  without  noting  the  distinction  between  them 
that  so  great  confusion  arises. 

No  man  and  no  government  has  any  right  (unless  its  citizens  have  formally  adopted 
a  religion  and  conferred  this  special  authority  upon  its  law-makers)  to  pass  laws  regu- 
lating the  religious  life  of  its  citizens. 

A  man's  religion  is  his  own  personal  matter  between  himself  and  his  God,  and  as 
such,  is  above  and  beyond  the  reach  of  human  agencies.  Therefore  so  far  as  the  state 
is  concerned  he  may  worship  God  or  not  as  he  pleases,  and  God  alone  has  the  right  to  call 
him  to  account  for  his  beliefs,  his  religious  observances  and  practices,  or  their  neglect. 

Never  until  this  principle  is  fully  understood  and  acted  upon  by  the  law  makers  and 
jurists  who  are  supposed  to  interpret  the  law,  can  the  United  Stales  get  rid  of  the  present 
jumble  of  confusion  in  its  laws  and  court  decisions.  This  mixture  of  religious,  moral  and 
civil  laws  and  the  vain  effort  to  harmonize  them  with  the  natural  rights  of  man  and  give 
him  the  individual  liberty  to  which  he  is  entitled,  and  at  the  same  time  protect  him  in 
his  rights  as  a  citizen,  can  only  be  simplified  and  made  effective  by  this  clear  cut  dis- 
tinction which  God  has  made  and  which  every  man  some  how  feels  to  be  his  due. 

With  all  of  these  facts  in  view,  you  can  readily  see  how  no  state  religion  is  adopted 
in  Equitania,  and  at  the  same  time  easily  see  how  the  people  can  have  any  religion  they 
want,  and  not  be  compelled  to  accept  any  particular  kind. 

As  to  the  system  of  morals  this  has  already  been  fully  outlined  in  the  constitution 
and  the  tenets  therein  set  forth  as  the  Public  Standard,  which  all  men  in  civilized  society 
can  accede  to  and  follow,  no  matter  what  their  religion.  In  fact  no  human  society  can 
do  the  best  thing  for  its  own  perpetuity  and  happiness  without  some  such  guide  and 
standard  in  morals,  and  therefore  the  Equitanians  were  wise  in  choosing  so  high  a  stan- 
dard and  requiring  its  observance  by  all. 

Prof.  Andrew  Johnson — You  have  given  a  good  and  very  reasonable  account  of  the 
religion  and  morality  of  this  country  which  seems  both  rational  and  practical;  but  I  have 
wondered  about  their  educational  system  and  would  like  to  have  you  tell  us  about  that. 
What  is  their  plan,  and  what  is  their  ideal? 

Rev.  Jones — I  am  glad  to  hear  you  put  that  question  and  hope  we  may  find  the 
answer  as  satisfactory  as  this  one  on  their  religioh  and  morals.  I  have  been  convinced 
for  a  good  while  that  we  are  not  pursuing  the  wisest  course  in  America  as  Christians  to 
win  the  world  for  Christ,  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that  some  people  have  chosen  the  better 
way.  I  remember  reading  an  important  epistle  to  Diognetus  written  about  150  A.  D. 
which  contains  these  very  significant  words: 

"For  Christians  are  not  distinguished  from  the  rest  of  mankind,  either  in  locality 
or  in  speech,  or  m  customs.  *  *  *  They  dwell  in  their  own  countries  as  the  lot  of 
each  is  cast,  but  only  as  sojourners;  they  bear  their  share  in  all  things  as  citizens, 
and  they  endure  all  hardships  as  strangers.  Every  foreign  country  is  a  fatherland 
to  him  and  every  fatherland  is  foreign.  '^  '^  '^  Their  existence  is  on  earth,  but 
their  citizenship  is  in  heaven.  They  obey  the  established  laws,  and  they  surpass  the 
laws  in  their  own  lives.  They  love  all  men,  and  they  are  persecuted  by  all.  War  is 
urged  against  them  as  aliens  by  the  Jews,  and  persecution  is  carried  on  against  them 
by  the  Greeks,  and  yet  those  that  hate  them  cannot  tell  the  reason  of  their  hostility." 

The  famous  English  historian  H.  H.  Milman  speaking  of  the  so-called  conversion  of 
the  Emperor  Constantine  to  Christianity  says: 

"This  important  crisis  in  the  history  of  Christianity  almost  forcibly  arrests 
attention  to  contemplate  the  change  wrought  in  Christianity  by  its  advancement 
into  a  dominant  power  in  the  state.  By  ceasing  to  exist  as  a  separate  community, 
and  by  advancing  its  pretensions  to  influence  the  general  government  of  mankind, 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY  A   RIGHT  87 

Christianity,  to  a  certain  extent,  forfeited  its  independence.  It  was  no  longer  a 
republic,  governed  exclusively,  as  far  at  least,  as  its  religious  concerns,  by  its  own 
internal  policy.  The  interference  of  the  civil  power  in  some  of  its  most  private  affairs, 
the  promulgation  of  its  canons,  and  even  in  some  cases,  the  election  of  its  bishops, 
by  the  state,  was  the  price  which  it  must  inevitably  pay  for  its  association  with  the 
ruling  power. 

I  remember  the  following  very  shrewd  criticism  from  one  of  our  laymen,  concerning 
the  church  in  the  United  States  and  I  am  glad  to  know  that  in  Equitania  while  the  Chris- 
tian church  is  no  part  of  the  state,  its  adherents  have  such  clear  ideas  of  the  real  duties 
of  the  church  and  do  not  get  them  mixed  up  with  civil  affairs,  but  keep  them  clear  and 
distinct. 

This  Christian  layman  said: 

"If  you  are  going  to  lead  a  man  to  Christ  and  into  the  Kingdom  how  would 
you  do  it?  Will  you  say  to  him,  now  you  must  first  learn  to  remember  the  Sabbath 
Day  to  keep  it  holy?  Or  would  you  get  him  to  receive  Christ  as  his  own  personal 
Savior,  and  then  because  he  now  wants  to  obey  and  follow  Him,  get  him  to  observe 
the  Sabbath? 

"Would  you  get  him  first  to  learn  to  stop  sviearing  and  obey  the  third  command, 
or  would  you  get  him  to  know  and  receive  Christ  as  his  Savior,  and  then  as  he 
wants  to  obey  and  follow  Him,  get  him  naturally  and  of  his  own  accord,  as  a  new 
creature,  to  refrain  from  profanity  not  simply  because  of  the  command,  but  out 
of  his  heart  of  love  and  reverence  he  now  observes  the  command? 

"Would  you  get  him  first  to  try  and  control  his  lust  for  women  and  carefully 
obey  the  seventh  command,  and  then  when  he  had  well  overcome  this  evil  tendency, 
try  and  persuade  him  to  become  a  Christian  in  the  full  sense  of  the  word  by  accepting 
Christ  as  his  Redeemer?  Or  would  you  not  rather  say.  Take  Jesus  as  your  Redeemer 
and  then  by  His  help,  you  can  at  once  and  as  a  necessary  part  of  your  new  life 
control  this  and  other  evils  of  your  old  nature. 

"If  you  are  going  to  get  a  man  to  choose  and  follow  Christ  as  his  Savior  and 
Redeemer  would  you  persuade  him  first  to  quit  certain  bad  habits,  reform  his  external 
conditions  as  preparatory  to  such  discipleship,  or  would  you  lead  him  to  an  intel- 
ligent conception  of  his  true  condition,  then  show  him  the  all-sufficiency  of  Christ 
to  make  him  a  new  man  and  save  him  from  his  sins,  no  matter  what  his  outward 
condition  might  be? 

"As  a  Christian  teacher  and  leader  do  you  want  to  reform  men,  or  regenerate 
them?  Do  you  consider  Christ  a  reformer  or  a  Redeemer?  Are  men  saved  by 
correcting  evil  habits  and  bad  practices,  or  are  they  really  saved  by  a  change  of 
internal  desire,  or  by  the  so-called  new  heart,  after  which  these  evil  habits  and  bad 
practices  are  naturally  and  essentially  changed?  Do  you  believe  in  the  new  crea- 
tion of  the  individual  by  first  an  internal  change  or  an  external  change?  Which 
is  first,  in  the  order  both  of  sequence  and  importance? 

"If  you  are  really  loyal  to  Christ  in  His  life  and  teachings,  if  you  are  loyal  to 
the  lives  and  teachings  of  the  apostles,  you  can  only  answer  one  way.  If  you  have 
carefully  observed  the  history  of  the  church  since  its  origin,  both  at  home  and 
abroad;  you  have  noticed  the  power  of  the  Gospel  to  save  and  keep  men,  no  matter 
what  their  condition  or  environment,  in  our  large  cities  and  in  mission  fields,  you 
can  only  answer  in  one  way. 

"When  any  man  is  really  once  converted  and  he  has  intelligently  and  consciously 
put  himself  into  the  hand  of  the  Master  for  guidance  and  safe  keeping,  he  at  once 
is  safe  and  he  promptly  so  makes  and  improves  his  environment  that  the  change  is 
noticeable  and  permanent.  It  is  not  the  environment  that  makes  a  real  man,  but 
the  man  that  shapes  the  environment.  It  is  not  the  label  on  the  can  that  makes  the 
contents  true  and  useful,  or  valuable;  nor  do  you  alter  the  contents  of  the  can  by 
changing  the  label.  You  may  put  on  what  label  you  please,  if  the  contents  are  bad, 
no  one  familiar  with  the  facts  would  be  deceived,  for  all  know  it  is  not  the  name  an 
article  goes  by,  but  is  it  true  to  the  label?  Are  the  contents  exactly  what  they 
purport  to  be?  Make  the  contents  right  and  let  the  label  correspond.  If  a  house 
is  known  to  put  false  labels  on  its  goods,  it  would  not  take  long  for  it  to  be  forced 


88  Ei^UITAXIA.   OR   THK    LAND   OF    EQUITY 

out  of  business.  So  while  they  are  anxious  to  have  striking  and  catching  labels 
for  their  canned  goods,  they  are  even  more  desirous  that  the  contents  should  come 
up  to  the  expectations  and  be  true  to  the  label.  It  is  exactly  so  with  the  individual 
life;  let  the  heart  and  real  character  be  right  and  the  label  will  pretty  much  take 
care  of  itself;  but  you  may  make  the  label  as  strong  and  catchy  as  you  please  if 
the  heart  and  character  are  not  right,  it  will  show  up  foul,  sooner  or  later,  no  matter 
what  the  environment.  It  is  heart  and  character  that  count,  and  not  environment. 
So  Christ  Himself  said,  *Ye  whited  sepulchres,  ye  make  fair  the  outside,  while 
within  ye  are  full  of  dead  men's  bones;  ye  make  clean  the  outside,  while  within  ye 
are  full  of  all  uncleanness." 

Now  if  we  have  stated  the  facts  faithfully  as  to  the  individual,  we  may  fairly  go  on 
to  say,  what  is  true  in  regard  to  the  one  is  equally  true  of  the  group  or  mass  as  found  in 
town,  city  or  state.  We  do  not  really  make  Christians  of  persons  or  make  any  individual 
either  a  Christian  or  more  God-like  by  environment  or  external  conditions,  neither  can 
we  do  so  with  towns,  cities  or  states. 

We  do  not  make  men  as  individuals  more  God-like  or  more  acceptable  in  their  per- 
sons to  the  Divine  mind  by  improving  first  their  external  conditions,  so  neither  can  we 
make  a  town,  city  or  state  more  acceptable  first  by  its  external  conditions.  '"Man  looketh 
on  the  outward  appearance,  but  God  looketh  on  the  heart."  And  this  is  just  the  differ- 
ence between  man's  method  and  God's. 

Man,  the  human  reformer,  the  social  worker,  the  mere  humanitarian,  looks  to  the 
externals  chiefly  to  change  the  world  of  cities  and  the  individual,  while  the  Christian,  the 
one  who  moves  forward  at  the  Divine  command  to  change  the  world  of  men,  whether 
as  cities  or  as  individuals,  looks  to  the  changing  of  the  individual  heart  as  the  first  essential 
in  makmg  any  change  really  worth  while  in  the  city  or  the  individual.  To  do  this  work  as 
the  Master  directs,  is  first  in  time  and  first  in  importance;  and  so  consumes  the  time,  the 
energy,  and  the  means  of  the  Christian,  that  he  would  be  foolish  to  spend  much  of 
any  of  these  in  doing  the  lesser,  secondary,  and  unimportant  thing,  which  to  be  really 
beneficial  and  permanent  must  come  from  within,  by  voluntary  choosing  of  the  individual, 
that  is  the  improvement  of  environment  or  of  external  conditions. 

Therefore  I  conclude  the  church  in  its  organized  capacity  and  in  the  work  of  its 
membership,  should  for  the  unsaved  world  seek  first  the  Kingdom  of  God  and  his  right- 
eousness. It  should  seek  first  to  lead  men  to  choose  the  new  heart,  to  offer  the  prayer  of 
the  Psalmist,  "Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  0  God,  and  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me." 
It  should  spend  its  time  and  energy  in  showing  men  the  way  of  life,  which  is  by  means  of 
the  "New  Birth,"  rather  than  showing  men  how  by  external  means  to  improve  their 
environment. 

If,  "The  churches  of  Christ  accept  without  reserve,  and  assert  without  apology  the 
supreme  authority  of  Jesus  Christ,"  why  not  implicitly  follow  Him  in  plan  and  instruc- 
tions, when  they  are  so  explicitely  given?  He  never  taught  either  by  precept  or  example 
that  men  must  be  taken  out  of  the  possibility  of  sinning  in  any  particular  direction  before 
the"  could  be  saved,  or  as  an  aid  to  their  salvation.  He  never  led  men  to  expect  freedom 
from  temptation  while  in  this  world.  He  never  tried  to  make  it  impossible  for  any  man  to 
sin,  or  yield  to  temptation  by  any  force  of  circumstances  or  external  conditions.  He 
never  tried  to  get  the  government  to  enact  any  laws  to  make  it  impossible  or  even 
difficult  for  men  to  sin.  He  acted  and  taught  as  if  he  believed  men  could  be  saved  and 
really  follow  him  as  true  disciples  in  any  land  or  clime,  no  matter  what  the  laws  of  the 
countries  were. 

Strangely  enough  this  was  also  the  action  of  the  apostles  and  of  the  early  church. 
How  far  indeed  have  we  gone  astray  from  these  early  plans  and  teachings!  I  have  been 
led  by  careful  observation  to  think  that  the  church  today  is  depending  more  upon  forms 
and  ceremonies,  legal  enactments  and  environment  to  reform  and  convert  the  world 
than  it  is  upon  the  Spirit  to  regenerate  and  save  it. 

The  church  has  almost  abandoned  the  Christ  idea  of  the  necessity  for  a  New  Birth, 
and  is  going  in  largely  for  a  better  environment,  for  the  importance  of  keeping  temptation 
out  of  man's  way,  for  social  betterment  as  a  valuable  and  efficient  substitute  for  the 
"New  man  in  Christ  Jesus."  It  is  as  if  the  mother  busied  herself  with  fixing  fine  clothes 
and  arranging  beautiful  flowers  to  adorn  her  burning  child,  instead  of  reaching  her 


RELIGIOUS  FREEDOM  A  RIGHT  89 

saving  hand  to  rescue  it  from  the  tragic  death.  It  is  as  if  the  husband  spent  time,  energy 
and  money  in  arrangmg  beautiful  scenery,  splendid  home,  fine  clothes,  elegant  furnishings 
and  elaborate  equipment  for  his  wife's  comfort,  but  failed  to  give  her  food  for  the 
sustenance  of  the  body. 

I  believe  the  church  is  woefully  dishonoring  her  Lord  in  the  frivolous  task  of  fixing 
up  attractive  environment  for  a  corpse  instead  of  applying  the  life-giving  stimulus  of 
salvation  to  men. 

It  has  been  wisely  and  truly  said,  "Christ's  mission  is  not  merely  to  reform  society, 
but  to  save  it.  He  is  more  than  the  world's  Re-adjuster.  He  is  its  Redeemer.  Now  if 
the  church  would  really  act  upon  this  belief  it  might  be  a  power  for  saving  men.  And 
until  it  does  so  it  will  be  no  more  than  a  social  club  or  a  large  reform  society. 

What  mistake  did  Charles  V  of  Spain  and  his  son  Philip  II  make  in  their  rule  of  the 
Protestants  when  they  urged  them  to  remain  Christians,  or  Catholics,  and  not  become 
heretics?  Why  were  they  not  justified  in  the  compulsion  of  warfare,  persecution  and  the 
stake  if  we  are  not  justified  in  compelling  by  force  of  law  and  judicial  sanction  all 
opponents  of  our  views  of  proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath?  Many  adherents  of  some 
of  the  Christian  churches  believe  that  card  parties,  theater  parties,  golf,  tennis,  croquet, 
and  base  ball  are  perfectly  legitimate  amusement  and  exercise  for  the  Sabbath  Day.  Can 
I,  merely  because  I  am  a  staunch  Presbyterian,  and  do  not  believe  in  these  things  on 
the  Sabbath  Day,  force  my  Episcopalian,  Methodist  or  Catholic  friend  to  forego  them? 
If  there  are  many  in  the  churches  who  desire  and  have  a  right  to  liberty  in  the  manner 
of  their  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  how  about  the  Hebrews,  the  Seventh  Day  Adventists, 
the  Buddhists,  the  Unitarians,  and  the  thousands  who  do  not  belong  to  any  of  our 
churches?  Is  it  fair,  is  it  honest,  is  it  right  to  compel  them  to  adopt  my  views  of  the 
proper  observance  of  this  day,  which  to  me  is  a  Holy  Day? 

Suppose  that  all  of  these,  who  are  now  greatly  in  the  majority,  should  decide  to 
compel  us  to  observe  this  Holy  Day  in  the  manner  they  want  to  observe  it,  would  there 
not  be  an  awful  outcry  against  such  tyranny?  But  if  I  have  a  right  to  compel  them  not  to 
observe  it  in  the  way  they  desire  and  force  them  in  a  manner  to  comply  with  my  ideas 
of  its  proper  observance,  why  have  they  not  the  same  coercive  right  with  me?  Ought  I 
not  to  be  satisfied  to  let  them  observe  it  after  their  way.  if  they  will  allow  me  the  like 
privilege,  and  neither  trespasses  upon  the  rights  of  the  other? 

In  other  words  to  those  who  are  Christians,  and  who  are  trying  to  observe  the 
Sabbath  Day,  or  Sunday,  in  a  manner  which  they  believe  is  pleasing  to  Christ,  the  great 
head  of  Christianity,  that  day  is  a  Holy  Day,  and  as  such  they  are  glad  to  observe  it. 
To  all  others  it  is  but  a  holiday  and  they  might  just  as  well  observe  it  in  one  harmless 
pastime   as   another. 

In  fact  the  proper  observance  of  that  day,  Sunday,  is  a  religious  exercise  or  exper- 
ience or  service,  and  has  to  do  with  a  man's  personal  or  individual  relation  with  Jehovah, 
and  as  such  is  not  amenable,  or  subject  to  any  civil  enactments,  except  such  as  will 
prevent  the  public  interfering  with  any  man's  observance  of  it. 

Why  did  the  Huguenots  and  Pilgrim  Fathers  come  to  America?  Was  it  not  to  avoid 
persecution  on  account  of  religious  beliefs  and  practices?  Was  it  not  for  the  specific 
purpose  of  enjoying  religious  freedom?  Was  it  not  for  the  sake  of  religious  liberty? 
Was  it  not  because  the  old  governments  from  which  they  fled  were  insisting  upon  their 
observance  of  particular  forms  and  manners  of  worship  and  were  compelling  men  and 
women  to  follow  their  state  religions?  Was  not  the  founding  of  the  Colonies  here,  and 
the  formation  of  the  government  due  to  this  intolerance  abroad  and  for  the  purpose  of 
religious  freedom  and  liberty?  Does  not  our  very  constitution  call  for  such  liberty;  and 
are  we  not  bound  by  our  traditions,  our  ancestors,  and  our  laws  to  grant  this  liberty  to 
all  of  our  citizens? 

AH  the  religious  wars  of  history  and  they  have  been  the  most  numerous  and  devas- 
tating of  all  wars,  have  arisen  from  the  one  false  premise,  that  the  ruHng  power  had  the 
right,  or  was  in  duty  bound  to  dictate  the  religious  beliefs  and  practices  of  its  citizens. 
And  just  in  proportion  as  the  ruling  powers  of  any  country  have  got'en  away  from  this 
false  and  ruinous  teaching  and  has  held  to  freedom  of  thought  in  religion,  so  it  has  pro- 
gressed in  civilization.  But  now,  simply  because  the  professed  and  nominal  adherents 
to  some  of  the  many  branches  of  the  Christian  church  greatly  predominate  in  the  United 
States  over  the  number  of  members  or  adherents  of  any  other  system  of  religion,  is  no 


90  Kl^'lTAXIA,   OR   THE   LAXD   OF   EQUITY 

justification  for  violating  our  obligations  to  these  who  are  non-Christians,  and  trying  to 
coerce  them  into  an  acceptance  and  observance  of  our  reUgious  beUefs  and  practices. 
We  ought  not  to  try  to  coerce  them  to  the  observance  of  our  customs,  nor  should  they 
attempt  to  coerce  us  into  an  observance  of  their  religious  or  non-religious  customs;  but 
both  should  be  satisfied  to  let  each  have  his  own  religious  beliefs  and  observe  his  own 
religious  customs  or  practices,  only  carefully  protecting  each  other  in  his  righ's,  both  civil 
and  religious,  and  preventing  any  infringement  of  the  one  upon  the  other.  The  funda- 
mental principles  upon  which  our  government  is  founded  and  by  which  we  have  all 
agreed  to  abide  are,  First,  religious  and  personal  liberty,  with  freedom  to  worship  God 
according  to  the  dictates  of  our  individual  consciences.  Second,  mutual  protection  of 
our  lives  and  our  possessions  with  equity  and  justice  for  all  in  civil  affairs. 

If,  therefore,  we  violate  this  first  principle  by  assuming  to  force  our  religious  belief 
or  practice  concerning  the  proper  observance  of  Sunday,  upon  any  of  our  fellow  citizens, 
we  ourselves  are  disrupters  of  government  and  enemies  to  peace.  So  long  as  these  who 
do  not  agree  with  us,  will  allow  us  to  worship  in  our  own  way,  and  do  not  disturb  our 
services,  we  ought  to  be  contented,  for  we  are  getting  what  the  government  has  promised 
us  and  all  in  equity  we  can  ask. 

Now,  there  can  be  no  objection  to  our  advocating  as  strongly  as  we  please  ovr  beliefs, 
and  urging  people  by  our  writings,  books,  magazines,  papers  and  by  public  discussion 
to  obey  God's  law  and  thus  try  to  persuade  them  to  choose  our  way  of  serving  God. 
And  belter  still,  if  we  can  persuade  them  by  our  holy  and  happy  lives  that  ours  is  the 
best  religion,  we  have  done  them  a  valuable  service,  and  have  truly  honored  our  Maker 
and  have  thus  demonstrated  the  worth  of  our  religion.  This  was  the  plan  our  Divine 
Master  adopted,  and  it  is  the  one  followed  by  the  disciples,  the  apostles,  the  early  church, 
and  this  is  the  only  plan  that  has  been  successful  in  the  missionary  field,  and  if  faithfully 
tried  it  will  work  splendidly  at  home. 

I  think  we  may  safely  say  in  the  light  of  history  an:J  truth,  the  degree  of  toleration, 
real  freedom  and  liberty  in  matters  religious  is  the  measure  oi  enlightenment  and  civil- 
ization of  any  city,  community  or  commonwealth.  Whether  a  drug  store  shall  remain 
open  on  Sunday  and  sell  cigars,  run  its  soda  fountain  and  other  minor  things  is  a  matter 
of  individual  choice  and  responsibility.  Whether  a  barber  shop  shall  keep  open  and  carry 
on  its  business  on  Sunday  is  purely  a  matter  of  individual  consideration,  and  I  would 
have  no  right  to  interfere  with  either,  so  long  as  they  do  not  interfere  with  me  observing 
the  day  in  whatever  way  I  think  is  pleasing  to  my  God.  Or  to  put  it  differently,  if  I 
refrain  from  all  unnecessary  work  on  Sunday,  and  from  all  unncessary  sports  and  friv- 
olities on  Sunday  because  I  believe  it  to  be  His  will  and  desire  for  me  to  do  so,  and  if  I 
had  the  power  and  should  use  it  to  make  you  and  the  barber  and  the  druggist,  and  other 
men  lovers  of  pleasure  do  the  same,  it  could  only  be  upon  the  ground  that  I  thought  it 
was  the  will  and  desire  of  my  God  to  have  you  do  so,  and  that  He  had  authorized  me 
to  compel  you  to  do  it,  if  you  would  not  do  so  voluntarily.  But  I  do  not  find  any  such 
authority  given  me.  And  yet  more,  if  I  go  to  church  and  other  religious  services  on 
Sunday  and  spend  the  day  in  reading,  prayer,  meditation,  and  such  other  exercises  and 
services  as  I  think  will  be  pleasing  to  my  God  and  will  therefore  be  useful  and  helpful, 
it  is  because  I  think  it  is  His  will  and  desire  for  me  to  do  so.  Now  if  I  am  to  take  you, 
the  druggist,  the  barber,  and  pleasure  lovers  under  my  protection  and  coerce  you  not 
to  do  certain  things  on  Sunday,  why  should  I  not  go  further  and  compel  you  to  do  the 
things  I  do  on  this  sacred  day,  both  of  which  I  do  to  please  my  Maker;  and  if  it  p'eases 
Him  and  He  authorized  me  to  compel  you  not  to  do  the  things  I  would  not  do  on  that  day 
because  I  want  to  please  and  obey  Him,  then  why  not  also  compel  you  to  do  the  things 
I  am  sure  He  would  like  to  have  you  do,  and  which  I  know  He  is  pleased  to  have  me  do> 
I  see  no  possible  escape  from  this  logic;  and  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  is  my  right, 
privilege  or  duty. 

You  may  teach,  train,  cultivate  and  persuade  men  to  believe  and  do  in  the  matters 
of  faith,  morals  and  religion  as  you  do,  in  perfect  equity,  or  he  may  thus  influence  you  in 
absolute  justice  and  fairness,  but  you  neither  can  nor  ought  to  force  another  to  believe 
as  you  do.  It  really  does  not  change  your  relation  nor  attitude  toward  truth,  to  merely 
be  forced  to  say  or  act  as  if  you  were  changed.  There  must  be  an  intelligent  change  of 
mind  by  the  presentation  of  facts,  the  use  of  reason,  the  formation  of  judgment,  and  the 
determination  of  Will  in  choice.     There  must  be  the  internal  conviction  based  upon  the 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY  A  RKllIT  91 

requisite  information  before  there  can  be  a  change  of  choice,  will  or  action  of  any  material 
and  lasting  value. 

Merely  because  the  church  by  its  abusive  tyranny  had  Galileo  make  public  retraction 
of  his  famous  argument  and  demonstration  of  the  truth  of  the  Copernican  theory 'it  did 
not  change  the  fact,  nor  prevent  the  triumph  of  his  scientific  truth,  nor  did  it  even 
change  his  own  beliefs  in  the  truth  of  his  reasoning,  and  the  just  conclusion  which  he  had 
reached. 

When  his  old  professors  taught  him  the  Aristotelian  theories  of  the  day,  that  falling 
bodies  descend  at  a  rate  of  speed  depending  upon  their  weight,  he  would  not  accept  it 
when  his  own  experiments  as  a  student  proved  the  theory  false.  And  when  he  one 
morning  took  the  university  professors  to  the  leanmg  tower  of  Pisa  and  demonstrated  to 
them  the  fallacy  of  the  theory  by  carrying  a  pound  shot  and  a  hundred  pound  shot  to 
the  top  of  the  tower,  and  then  carefully  balancing  them  on  the  edge  of  the  tower  let 
them  fall  together,  and  although  they  struck  the  ground  below  at  the  same  instant  which 
was  witnessed  by  the  whole  University,  and  by  this  simple  experiment  the  old  theory  was 
shattered,  still  they  were  unwilling  to  give  up  their  old  beliefs. 

A  well-known,  forcible,  and  very  able  writer  recently  took  vigorous  exceptions  to  a 
ruling  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  when  it  ruled  the  Bible  out  of  the  public  schools 
of  that  state,  and  I  took  occasion  to  make  the  following  reply: 

"Dear  Sir:  Your  editorials  are  usually  so  strong,  so  fair  and  convincing,  that 
I  am  generally  in  the  heartiest  accord  with  them.  But  in  the  issue  of  May  25th  you 
are  so  manifestly  at  variance  with  your  customary  acumen,  and  spirit  of  justice, 
that  I  cannot  refrain  from  pointing  out  to  you  what  I  conceive  to  be  your  injustice, 
and  the  errors  of  your  logic. 

"In  your  criticism  of  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  after  citing 
a  certain  portion  of  the  decision  you  ask,  'What  is  sectarian?'  The  Century  Dictionary 
gives  to  this  word  three  definitions:  (1)  peculiar  to  a  sect;  (2)  that  which  incul- 
cates the  particular  tenets  of  a  sect,  as  a  sectarian  book;  (3)  characterized  by 
bigoted  attachment  to  a  particular  sect.  The  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  then  holds 
that  the  Bible  is  a  sectarian  book,  a  book  which  is  peculiar  to  a  sect,  inculcates  the 
particular  tenets  of  a  sect,  or  is  characterized  by  bigoted  attachment  to  a  particular 
sect. 

"The  inference  is  from  your  remarks,  that  the  Bible  is  not  such  a  book;  and 
yet  the  fact  is  the  Bible  is  the  peculiar  text  book  of  those  who  believe  and  practice 
the  Christian  religion.  It  is  their  official  guide  book  in  contradistinction  to  the 
Koran,  which  is  the  specific  and  official  guide  book  of  those  who  believe  and  practice 
the  Mohammedan  religion;  or  in  contradistinction  to  the  Book  of  Mormon,  which 
is  the  guide  book  and  official  religious  text  book  of  the  Mormon  religion;  or  in 
contradistinction  to  the  Rig  Veda,  which  is  the  official  relnious  cruide  book  of  those 
who  believe  and  practice  the  Buddhist  religion;  or  in  contradistinction  to  tSe  Zend 
Avesta,  which  is  the  religious  guide  book  of  the  Zoroastrians.  I  think,  therefore,  you 
are  wrong  in  that  criticiem,  and  the  Supreme  Court  is  right  in  its  statenr.ent. 

"Again  you  say,  'For  the  same  reason,  it  is  no  longer  legal  in  Illinois  for  a 
teacher  to  say  to  the  pupils,'  'Thou  shalt  not  steal,'  'Thou  shalt  not  kill,'  'Thou  shalt 
not  bear  false  witness,'  'Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery,'  for  these  are  quotations 
from  the  Bible.' 

"  'These  and  similar  passages  in  the  Bible  cannot  be  used,  not  because  they  are 
peculiar  to  any  sect,  but  because  they  are  in  the  Bible,  and  no  test  suggests  itself  to 
the  court  by  which  it  can  be  determined  what  utterances  in  the  Bible  are  sectarian 
and  what  are  not.' 

"This  also  seems  to  be  an  unfair  criticism,  for  the  Court  has  not  made  it 
illegal  for  any  teacher  to  quote  anything  he  pleases  either  from  ihe  Bible,  the 
Koran,  or  any  other  book,  religious  or  not.  The  Court  has  simply  said  it  is  not  legal 
to  use  the  Bible  in  the  schools  of  Illinois.  It  has  not  refused  the  teacher  the  right 
to  use  any  language,  illustration  or  incident  he  may  see  fit  from  the  Bible.  But  it 
has  said  the  Bible  being  the  recognized  official  text  book  of  one  of  the  religious 
societies  of  the  world,  called  Christians,  it  cannot  legally  be  put  into  the  schools, 
supported  at  public  expense,  by  a  people  who  are  at  liberty  to  choose  any,  or  no 
religion,  as  they  may  be  disposed,  and  where  avowedly  there  is  no  state  religion. 


\r2  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

"Again  you  say,  'What  right  then,  has  the  Court  to  declare  that  the  Bible  is 
the  inspired  word  of  God,  and  thus  take  sides  in  the  rehgious  controversy,  while 
disclaiming  the  right  to  determine  religious  questions?'  Whereas  the  fact  is  the 
Court  makes  no  such  declaration,  but  on  the  contrary  asserts  that,  'Christians  agreed 
that  the  Bible  is  the  inspired  word  of  God,'  and  this  you  cannot  deny,  for  it  is  simply 
the  statement  of  a  well-known  truth.  And  the  Court  very  wisely  says,  'The  law 
knows  no  distinction  between  the  Christian  and  the  Pagan,  the  Protestant  and  the 
Catholic.  All  are  citizens,  their  civil  rights  are  precisely  equal.  The  law  cannot 
see  religious  differences,  because  the  constitution  has  definitely  and  completely 
excluded  religion  from  the  law's  contemplation  in  considering  men's  rights.' 

"Again  you  quote  from  Prof.  Huxley  and  say  of  him,  'Prof.  Huxley  will  hardly 
be  regarded  by  any  of  our  readers  as  a  sectarian.'  But  even  here  I  beg  to  take  issue 
with  you  most  emphatically,  for  Huxley,  like  thousands  in  Europe  and  America, 
was  raised  under  the  beneficent  and  exalting  influences  of  Christianity,  and  whilst 
not  following  its  tenets  and  its  Bible  as  a  religious  devotee,  nevertheless  he  was, 
like  millions  of  others,  influenced  by  its  teachings,  and  was  prejudiced  in  its  favor, 
so  that  he  believed  the  Bible  and  Christianity  superior  to  all  other  religious  books 
and  systems  in  the  world.  And  therefore  he  was  a  sectarian.  Hence  his  opinion, 
and  your  quotation  from  him  are  of  no  value  in  this  particular  controversy  as  to 
the  use  of  the  Bible  in  our  public  schools. 

"After  giving  Huxley's  quotation,  you  say  'It  is  this  book  which  the  Supreme 
Court  of  Illinois  declares  must  not  be  read  in  whole  or  in  part  to  the  children  of 
Illinois  by  its  school  teachers,  because  it  contains  passages  to  which  sects  appeal 
in  support  of  their  peculiar  tenets.  It  would  be  as  rational  to  forbid  the  reading 
of  the  constitution  of  the  United  States  because  that  constitution  contains  paragraphs 
to  which  factions  appeal  in  support  of  their  factional  tenets.' 

"Have  you  not  here  unfairly  criticised  the  Court?  It  is  not  because  certain 
portions  are  taken  up  and  made  to  originate  the  difference  between  Protestants 
and  Catholics,  or  even  between  the  various  Protestant  denominations  or  sects,  but 
because  the  book  as  a  whole  is  the  basis  and  foundation  of  a  system  of  religion  as 
distinguished  from  the  Jewish,  Buddhist,  or  Mohammedan.  And  since  in  this  free 
land,  this  land  of  religious  liberty,  the  state  cannot  justly  teach  any  system  of 
religion,  neither  can  it  make  the  text  book  of  any  religious  system  a  part  of  the 
state   educational   system. 

"Again  you  say,  'At  the  very  time  when  the  Bible  is  accepted  and  employed  in 
the  public  schools  of  one  of  the  largest  provinces  of  China  as  a  reading  book,  for  the 
reason  so  admirably  stated  by  Prof.  Huxley,  its  use  is  forbidden  in  the  public  schools 
of  Illinois  by  its  Supreme  Court.  The  Bible  is  accepted  in  the  schools  of  a  Pagan 
land  and  expelled  from  the  schools  of  a  Christian  land  in  the  same  decade.' 

"And  this  it  seems  to  me  reveals  the  cause  of  your  error,  for  it  is  a  well  estab- 
lished fact  of  logic,  if  your  premises  are  wrong  your  conclusions  must  also  be  wrong. 

"You  assume,  as  thousands  before  you  have  done,  that  this  is  a  Christian  land; 
and  that  erroneous  assumption,  without  a  single  fact  to  sustain  it,  has  led  multitudes 
astray  in  their  argument,  and  in  their  efforts  at  law  making,  and  in  social  and  moral 
reforms. 

"This  is  not  a  Christian  country  by  any  fair  interpretation  of  language  and 
reasonable  knowledge  of  the  facts. 

"But  once  more,  you  think  this  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  would  be  an 
excellent  opportunity  in  which  to  use  the  Roosevelt  recall.  But  let  me  remind  you 
that  neither  the  Supreme  Court  of  Illinois,  nor  yet  the  majority  of  the  voters,  have 
any  moral  right  to  inflict  upon  a  minority  an  injustice,  and  strive  to  compel  that 
minority  to  adopt  any  particular  brand  of  religion,  or  to  study  any  particular  religious 
text  book. 

"It  was  to  escape  this  very  coercion  that  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  and  the  Huguenots 
fled  to  this  country.  It  was  to  avoid  this  very  thing  that  America  was  peopled  and 
this  particular  kind  of  government  was  established.  If  the  Supreme  Court,  or  a 
majority  of  the  voters  can  coerce  me  to  adopt  a  particular  religious  system,  or  a 
particular  religious  text  book,  then  why  may  not  the  same  Court,  or  the  same 
majority,  also  compel  me  to  accept  a  certain  definite  interpretation  of  that  text 


RELIGIOUS  LIBERTY  A  RIGHT  93 

book,  or  compel  me  to  embrace  and  practice  a  certain  definite  brand  of  Christianity 
like  Catholicism  or  Methodism,  or  Presbyterianism,  or  Congregationalism?  Where 
then  is  our  boasted  freedom  and  coveted  religious  liberty? 

"But  more,  you  are  well  aware  of  the  fact  that  in  our  large  cities  are  many 
Jews,  some  Mohammedans,  Buddhists,  and  vastly  more  who  are  wholly  irreligious. 
I  am  told  by  a  gentleman  of  experience  who  recently  made  some  investigations  in 
San  Francisco,  that  there  are  more  heathen  or  pagan  places  of  worship  than  Chris- 
tian. And  too,  you  must  be  aware  of  the  fact  that  our  friends  of  the  Catholic 
church  do  not  want  the  Bible  read  in  our  public  schools  by  the  irreverent,  nor 
even  by  the  Protestants.  So  that  we  have  a  very  large  element  in  our  cities  especially 
who  are  justly  aggrieved  at  any  attempt  upon  the  part  of  the  people  to  put  the 
Bible  in  our  public  schools,  because  in  violation  of  our  constitution,  and  in  opposition 
to  the  spirit  of  liberty  which  is  the  boast  of  the  twentieth  century  for  all  civilized 
lands. 

"Lest  I  be  misunderstood,  I  wish  to  assure  you  of  my  own  personal  belief  in  the 
Bible  as  being  the  veritable  Word  of  God  to  man,  the  only  infallible  rule  of  faith 
and  practice,  and  that  Jesus  Christ  as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  is  the  only  Savior 
of  men.  I  believe  further  that  its  system  of  religion  is  the  very  best  in  the  world, 
and  that  the  Bible  is  the  best  possible  foundation  for  the  building  of  a  good  moral 
character,  and  is  the  most  essential  part  of  a  Christian  education,  the  highest  type 
of  education  in  the  world.  But  while  this  is  my  belief,  it  gives  me  no  moral  right, 
and  under  our  constitution  it  gives  me  no  legal  right  (in  fact  I  am  forbidden  that 
legal  right)  to  compel  any  of  my  fellow  citizens  to  accept  or  adopt  my  belief.  I 
have  the  God-given  right  and  duty  to  so  live  and  work  with  my  fellovvmen  as  to 
try  and  persuade  them,  one  and  all,  to  come  to  my  way  of  thinking  in  matters  of 
religion  and  morals,  but  I  cannot  coerce  them  so  to  do.  And  just  in  the  measure 
of  my  effort  to  compel  others  to  my  religious  views  just  in  so  much  do  I  actually 
lose  my  power  for  real  effective  service  in  winning  men  to  Christ  and  His  teachings. 
Herein  lies  the  weakness  of  the  church  in  our  own  land  today,  because  in  too  larre 
a  degree  it  has  abandoned  its  God-given  power  of  educating  and  by  loving  persuasion 
under  the  Holy  Spirit  winning  men  intelligently  into  the  Kingdom;  and  for  this,  is 
substituting  the  power  of  legal  enactment  and  coercion  to  reform  men  and  to  save 
the  world." 

Christians  have  the  same  rights  as  other  citizens  to  take  an  active  part  in  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  state,  but  they  have  no  more  right  to  pass  laws,  or  ask  for  legislation  upon 
the  peculiar  tenets  of  their  religion  than  have  the  Jews,  Turks,  or  Mohammedans  who 
live  amongst  us. 

Let  all  co-operate  in  civil  affairs,  and  if  possible  agree  upon  a  moral  code  or  standard 
for  the  state,  but  they  should  and  must,  if  peace  and  reasonable  harmony  are  to  prevail, 
steer  clear  of  religious  questions  in  legislatures  and  courts. 

Horace — How  very  like  the  argument  used  by  the  Christians  in  Equitania  for  free- 
dom of  religion  there.  These  fundamental  principles  were  agreed  upon,  and  each  division 
was  allowed  full  liberty  to  teach  and  practice  its  particular  form  of  religion. 

All— I  am  delighted  with  the  broad  and  intelligent  view  which  seems  to  prevail 
over  there. 

Horace— As  well  as  you  all  like  the  theoretical  plans  of  the  Equitanians  I  am  sure 
you  would  like  their  practical  workings  much  better  if  you  could  visit  the  country  and 
see  the  results  in  every  day  life.  If  we  can  get  together  next  week  about  Monday  night 
1  will  answer  your  further  questions  concerning  education  as  carried  on  in  Equitania. 

So  bidding  you  all  a  kindly  farewell  until  that  tme.  let  us  separate  hoping  for  further 
conference   then. 


CHAPTER   VI. 


THEIR  EDUCATIONAL  SYSTEM,  ITS  FUNDAMENTAL  BASIS,  AND  THE 

SEX  PROBLEM. 

Horace — Good  evening,  gentlemen,  said  Horace,  as  the  four  men  appeared  according 
to  appointment.  To  which  they  all  responded  with  hearty  good  cheer,  and  as  soon  as 
they   were    comfortably    seated    Prof.    Johnson    began. 

Johnson — I  am  anxious  to  have  you  tell  us  something  about  the  educational  system 
and  their  ideas  for  the  proper  training  of  the  young. 

Horace — I  shall  be  glad  to  tell  you  what  I  can  about  it,  for  I  have  often  felt  that 
although  in  this  country  we  spend  so  much  money  and  are  in  many  ways  doing  much  for 
our  youth,  still  we  are  not  doing  the  best  for  the  boys  and  girls,  nor  are  we  doing  as  much 
for  them  as  we  might,  nor  as  we  ought.  We  are  not  getting  the  results  commensurate  with 
our  vast  expenditure  of  money,  and  are  not  fitting  our  boys  and  girls  for  real  life  as  we 
should. 

Aristotle  said,  "All  who  have  meditated  on  the  art  of  governing  mankind  have  been 
convinced  that  the  fate  of  empires  depends  on  the  education  of  the  youth." 

Milton  said,  "I  call,  therefore,  a  complete  and  generous  education,  that  which  fits 
a  man  to  perform  justly,  skillfully,  and  magnanimously,  all  the  offices,  both  private  and 
public,  of  peace  and  war." 

Bacon  said,  "The  real  use  of  all  knowledge  is  this,  that  we  should  dedicate  that 
reason  which  was  given  us  by  God  to  the  use  and  advantage  of  man." 

Channing  said,  "He  is  to  be  educated  not  because  he  is  to  make  shoes,  nails  and 
pins,  but  because  he  is  a  man." 

Daniel  Webster  said,  "Educate  your  children  to  self-control,  to  the  habit  of  holding 
passion  and  prejudice  and  evil  tendencies  subject  to  an  upright  and  reasoning  will,  and 
you  have  done  much  to  abolish  misery  from  their  future  lives  and  crimes  from  society. 
Knov/ledge  does  not  comprise  all  which  is  contained  in  the  large  term  of  education.  The 
feelings  are  to  be  disciplined;  the  passions  are  to  be  restrained;  true  and  worthy  motives 
are  to  be  inspired.  A  profound  religious  feeling  is  to  be  instilled,  and  pure  morality  incul- 
cated under   all   circumstances.      All   this   is   comprised   in   education." 

John  Locke  said,  "And  to  teach  him  (the  boy)  betime  to  love  and  be  good  natured 
to  others,  is  to  lay  early  the  foundation  of  an  honest  man;  all  injustice  generally  spring- 
ing from  too  great  love  of  ourselves  and  too  little  of  others.  For  few  of  Adam's  children 
are  so  happy,  as  not  to  be  born  with  some  bias  in  their  natural  temper,  which  is  the 
business  of  education  either  to  take  off,  or  counter-balance. 

"But  under  whose  care  soever  a  child  is  put  to  be  taught  during  the  tender  and 
flexible  years  of  his  life,  this  is  certain:  it  should  be  one  who  thinks  Latin  and  language 
the  least  part  of  education;  one  who  knowing  how  much  virtue  and  a  well-tempered  soul 
is  to  be  preferred  to  any  sort  of  learning  or  language,  makes  it  his  chief  business  to  form 
the  mind  of  his  scholars  and  give  that  a  right  disposition ;  which  if  once  got,  though  all  tlie 
rest  should  be  neglected,  would  in  due  time  produce  all  the  rest;  and  which  if  it  be  not 
got  and  settled  so  as  to  keep  out  ill  and  vicious  habits,  languages  and  sciences  and  all 
the  other  accomplishments  of  education,  will  be  to  no  purpose  but  to  make  the  worse  or 
more  dangerous  man. 

"A  gentlemean,  whose  business  it  is  to  seek  the  true  measure  of  right  and  wrong, 
and  not  the  arts  how  to  avoid  doing  the  one,  and  secure  himself  in  doing  the  other  ought 
to  be  as  far  from  such  a  study  of  the  law,  as  he  is  concerned  diligently  to  apply  himself 
to  that  wherein  he  may  be  serviceable  to  his  country. 

"If  the  use  and  end  of  right  reasoning  be  to  have  right  notions  and  a  right  judgment 
of  things,  to  distinguish  between  truth  and  falsehood,  right  and  wrong,  and  to  act  accord- 
ingly; be  sure  not  to  let  your  son  be  bred  up  in  the  art  and  formality  of  disputing,  either 

(95) 


•Hi  EQUITAXIA,   OK   TllK    l.AXD   OF   EQUITY 

practicing  it  himself,  or  admiring  it  in  others;  unless  instead  of  an  able  man,  you  desire 
to  have  him — thinking  there  is  no  such  thing  as  truth  to  be  sought,  but  only  victory,  in 
disputing.  • 

"The  great  business  of  all  learning  and  accomplishments  is  virtue  and  wisdom. 

"Teach  him  to  get  a  mastery  over  his  inclinations,  and  submit  his  appetite  to  reason. 
This  being  obtained,  and  by  constant  practice  settled  into  habit,  the  hardest  part  of  the 
task  is  over.  So  that  the  public  school,  as  well  as  the  private  school,  or  to  put  it  more 
tersely,  the  educational  system  of  any  country  ought  first  to  make  good  citizens,  and 
second  make  them  useful  laborers,  artisans,  mechanics,  business  men,  home  makers, 
professional  or  other."  Then  we  must  agree  as  to  what  it  takes  to  make  a  good  citizen 
before  we  can  adopt  a  system  of  education,  or  training  to  produce  him. 

In  Equitania,  they  have,  I  think,  met  the  needs  of  the  young  as  here  set  forth  in  a 
very  practical  way,  and  I  am  sure  you  will  be  interested  in  their  methods. 

The  Equitanians  assume  that  a  proper  system  of  education  must  be  practical,  and 
fit  its  young  people  for  the  realities  of  life,  and  that  to  this  end  there  must  be  adequate 
oportunities  and  facilities  for  all  children  in  the  state  to  gain  the  knowledge  necessary  for 
them  to  take  their  places  in  the  world  and  discharge  their  duties  to  the  state  and  to 
society,  with  reasonable  ability  and  fidelity.  Therefore  they  establish  public  schools  to 
which  all  children  have  access  and  all  are  required  to  attend  and  acquire  the  fundamental 
things  which  all  need  to  know  in  order  to  be  intelligent  and  useful  subjects. 

This  fundamental  education  fits  all  for  good,  intelligent  citizenship,  and  lays  a  founda- 
tion for  any  technical,  profesional  or  special  learning  which  may  be  further  pursued  in 
the  colleges,  universities  or  special  schools  which  are  established  for  these  particular  pur- 
poses. Even  the  private  schools  which  are  established  are  so  supervised  by  the  state  that 
the  fundamental  things  of  good  citizenship  must  be  taught  first  of  all.  With  this  object  in 
view,  the  system  of  morals  adopted  by  the  state  which  I  refered  to  previously,  is  an 
essential  part  of  the  system  of  education  in  every  school,  public  or  private,  and  of  high 
or  low  degree,  whether  general  or  technical  in  its  course  of  study,  and  this  produces  what 
they  consider  good  citizens  and  subjects.  That  is  to  say,  the  teaching  of  these  funda- 
mental things  which  must  go  to  make  up  good  character,  and  fit  every  one  to  take  his  place 
in  society,  to  help  maintain  the  government  in  its  legitimate  effort  to  secure  to  all  their 
rights,  and  protect  them  in  their  persons  and  possessions,  can  be  produced  in  no  other 
way,  and  those  who  are  thus  trained  are  most  apt  to  produce  good  and  desirable  subjects. 

To  show  you  one  phase  of  their  system,  I  may  speak  of  how  important  they  ragard 
it  to  teach  the  children  about  their  own  bodies,  and  how  they  teach  them  to  know  about 
sex,  its  meaning,  its  use  and  its  place  in  the  human  economy. 

A  commission  of  physicians  was  appointed  to  investigate  and  report  its  findings  upon 
the  sex  question,  the  social  evil,  the  venereal  diseases,  and  the  following  reports  and 
recommendations  having  been  received,  the  leading  educators  in  co-operation  with  this 
commission  of  doctors,  founded  its  educational  system  on  the  sex  question  and  the  state 
based  its  legal  enactments  for  the  prevention  of  prostitution  and  the  venereal  diseases 
upon  its  findings. 

To  the  Department  of  Education  in  The  Land  of  Equity. 

Sirs:      The   following   four  papers  written  upon, 

1 .  The  Sexual  System. 

2.  The  Venereal  Diseases,  their  causes  and  prevention, 

3.  How  to  prevent  the  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  and 

4.  The  duty  of  the  state  to  promote  the  health  of  its  subjects,  by  sterilizing  its 
insane,  epileptics,  degenerates,  inebriates  and  other  habitual  drug  users,  as  well  as 
to  sterilize  its  confirmed  criminals  for  social  and  economic  reasons,  cover  the  sub- 
jects of  our  investigation  so  well  that  we  wish  to  submit  them  entire. 

FIRST— THE  SEXUAL  SYSTEM. 

Its  place  in  the  human  economy. 

Its  functions. 

Its  use  and  abuse. 

The  remedy  for  the  evils  growing  out  of  ignorance  concerning  it  as  well  as  the 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SEXUAL  SYSTEM  97 

prevention  of  its  perversions   and  its   excesses,   together  with   the  diseases  caused 
thereby. 

The  ovaries  in  the  female  and  the  testicles  in  the  male  by  means  of  their  functions 
(doubtless  in  part  by  some  internal  secretion)  give  tone,  vigor  and  virility  to  the  whole 
organism,  while  giving  personality  to  the  individual;    hence  their   function  is   fourfold. 

1 .  Procreation. 

2.  Personality. 

(a)  To  the  male — power  and  dignity. 

(b)  To   the   female — grace   and  gentleness. 

3.  Pleasure. 

4.  Occasion  for  self  control. 

It  does  not  follow,  however,  that  sexual  intercourse  is  therfore  essential  to  health, 
happiness  or  success  in  life,  for 

1st.  These  organs  functionate,  and  the  individual  gets  all  the  personal  benefits  to  be 
derived  from  the  mere  physical  products  of  such  activity  or  secretions,  without  actual 
sexual  intercourse,  as  the  secretions  are  constantly  being  formed,  and  so  much  as  are 
necessary  for  the  physical  good  and  health  of  the  individual  is  being  absorbed  into  the 
general  system  and  invigorates  the  body  constantly  day  after  day. 

Dr.  W.  H.  Morley,  Ph.  B.  of  Detroit,  Mich.,  read,  by  invitation  before  the  "Ann 
Arbor  Medical  Club"  a  paper  upon,  "Glands  with  an  Internal  Secretion,"  which  gives  the 
present  status  of  that  question  from  a  scientific  standpoint.  In  that  paper  he  says, 
"Brown-Sequard  developed  the  first  acceptable  theory  of  the  internal  secretions.  It  was 
as  follows:  'All  glands,  provided  or  not  with  secretory  ducts,  give  to  the  blood  useful 
principles,  whose  absence  is  felt  after  their  extirpation  or  destruction  by  disease.'  From 
this  it  follows  that  a  definite  function  belongs  to  the  glands  and  other  tissue  articles  of 
the  organism,  as  the  liver,  pituitary,  spleen,  thyroid,  ovary,  et  cetera,  which  function  con- 
sists in  this  to  produce  a  specific  material  and  to  secrete  it.  This  material  passes  into 
the  circulation  and  influences  all  the  cells  of  the  body  in  its  own  peculiar  way.  If  a 
disturbance  of  the  function  of  any  gland  whatsoever,  or  of  another  part  of  the  organ 
takes  place,  then  a  lack  of  the  specific  material  or  secretion  into  the  other  tissues,  even 
a  disturbance  or  injury  occurs.  There  exists,  in  short,  as  Spencer  so  well  expresses  it, 
between  the  different  organs  or  their  cells,  an  altruism,  that  is,  a  certain  reciprocal 
relation  of  dependence.  Hansemann,  in  his  highly  interesting  article  upon  the  scientific 
foundation  of  organotherapy,  says:  'There  exists  between  the  single  cell  groups  an 
altruistic  relation  in  such  a  manner  that  each  cell  group  undertakes  a  definite  duty  for 
the  other  remaining  cell  groups,  even  so  as  all  the  remaining  for  the  one.  Such  a  change 
of  all  the  remaining  cell  groups  follows  the  change  of  one  cell  group  and  in  such  a  way 
that  an  altrustic  hypertrophy  follows  a  progressive  change,  an  altruistic  atrophy,  a  retro- 
gressive change.'  The  brilliant  research  work  of  Eppinger,  Falta,  and  Rudinger  on  the 
reciprocal  action  of  glands  with  an  internal  secretion  marks  an  important  advance  in 
its  explanation. 

"If  I  may  be  permitted  to  go  a  step  further,  I  would  make  the  assertion,  based  more 
or  less  upon  the  research  work  just  mentioned,  that  I  believe,  that  all  glands,  that 
possess  an  internal  secretion,  are  more  or  less  closely  related.  In  health,  they  are  in  a 
state  of  equilibrium.  When  one  gland  for  some  reason  becomes  diseased,  atrophies  or 
is  removed,  thus  destroying  the  equilibrium,  what  is  more  natural  than  that  the  other 
glands  in  the  chain  should  hypertrophy,  atrophy  or  undergo  some  change  to  make  up  for 
the  loss  sustained? 

"The  work,  reported  above,  carried  on  in  the  Von  Noorden  Clinic  in  Vienna,  upon 
the  pancreas,  the  thyroid,  and  the  adrenals  (chromafine  system)  shows  beautifully  this 
reciprocal  action.  If  such  an  interdependence  exists  between  the  pancreas,  the  thyroid 
and  the  adrenals,  is  it  not  to  be  inferred  with  a  tolerable  degree  of  certainty  that  such 
a  reciprocal  action  exists  between  all  glands  that  have  an  internl  secretion?" 

2nd.  No  practice  or  custom  can  be  considered  essential  to  good  health  which  is  not 
universally  applicable  or  accessible  to  man  in  his  normal  condition.  And  it  must,  I 
think,  be  conceded,  that  sexual  intercourse  is  not  one  of  these;  for  many  men  and 
women  do  not  marry  at  all  for  various  good  and  sufficient  reasons.     Others  marry  but 


9S  EQUITANIA,   OK   THK    LAND   OF   KQUITY 

lose  their  partners  by  death  in  a  few  years;  still  others  by  reason  of  their  occupations 
as  traveling  men,  soldiers,  sailors,  and  such  like  are  necessarily  separated  for  months 
or  years  from  their  wives,  and  others  again  on  account  of  prolonged  visiting  away  from 
home  or  from  sickness  and  invalidism  are  necessarily  precluded  from  such  intercourse 
with  their  wedded  mates.  Now  it  is  manifest  in  all  of  these  cases  there  must  be  months 
and  sometimes  years  when  normal  marriage  relations  are  suspended. 

3rd.  The  Creator  who  formed  man's  body  and  knows  the  need  of  every  organ, 
tissue  and  part  so  skillfully  arranged  these  parts  as  to  contribute  to  man's  highest  and 
best  welfare  as  a  physical  being,  as  well  as  provided  for  his  spiritual  welfare.  It  is 
His  will  that  man  should  restrain  this  function  and  carry  himself  with  dignity,  courage 
and  power,  keeping  in  subjection  these  parts  endowed  with  such  vast  possibilities  when 
exercised  in  the  normal  marriage  relations,  and  therefore  he  said,  "Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery." 

^th.  The  highest  scientific  medical  authority  says  and  has  taught  for  years,  that 
sexual  intercourse  is  not  essential  to  the  most  perfect  health.  Prof.  Lionel  S.  Beale  of 
King's  College,  London,  says,  "It  cannot  be  too  emphatically  stated  that  the  strictest 
continence  and  purity  are  in  harmony  with  physiological,  physical,  and  moral  laws, 
and  that  the  yielding  to  the  desires,  the  passions  and  inclinations  cannot  be  justified  on 
physiological,   physical   or   moral   grounds." 

And  Sir  William  Cowers  of  London,  the  highest  living  authority  on  the  brain  and 
nervous  system  says,  "With  all  the  force  that  any  knowledge  that  I  possess  can  f,ive, 
and  with  any  authority  I  may  have,  I  assert  as  the  result  of  long  observe  t!oa  and  consid- 
eration of  facts  of  every  kind,  that  no  man  was  ever  yet  in  the  slightest  degree  or  way 
the  better  for  incontinence;  that  for  it  every  man  must  be  worse  morally,  and  that  most 
are  worst  physically,  and  in  no  small  number  the  result  is,  and  ever  will  be,  utter 
physical  shipwreck  on  one  of  the  many  rocks,  sharp,  jagged-edged,  or  one  of  the 
many  banks  of  festering  slime,  that  are  about  his  course  and  which  no  care  can  possibly 
avoid.  And  I  am  sure,  further,  that  no  man  was  ever  yet  anything  but  the  be.ter  for 
perfect  continence. 

"For  every  evil  deed  that  men  do  they  seek  some  excuse.  But  the  excuses  for 
indulging  in  vice  are  untenable,  and  the  foul  deeds  are  defenseless.  Nor  can  his  posterity 
escape  the  physical  and  moral  deterioration  which  is  an  organic,  and  not  a  supernatural 
penalty. 

"Why  should  man  be  the  only  created  being  to  degrade  women,  when  not  a  single 
animal  ill-treats,  deserts,  or  destroys  the  female  of  his  kind,  but  rather  shares  with  her 
all  the  delights  of  life,  its  pastimes  and  its  labors.  We  are  made  to  help,  not  to  destroy 
one  another,  and  there  can  be  no  logical  support  for  the  degradation  of  one  human  being 
to  maintain  another's  health.  If  man  poison  his  body  and  mind  by  sexual  vices,  which 
are  more  transmissable  to  posterity  than  any  other,  he  gives  to  his  heirs  pillars  which 
are  rotten.  To  mankind  alone  is  conceded  the  privilege — a  concession  which  we  grant 
as  legitimate — of  a  temperate  gratification  of  the  sexual  appetite  in  the  marriage  rela- 
tionship, merely  for  the  sake  of  pleasure." 

Many  more  authorities  might  be  given,  but  suffice  it  to  say  that  no  intelligent  phy- 
sician or  physiologist  will  deny  these  facts  unless  he  desires  to  make  excuses  for  his  own 
immoral  indulgences,  and  you  may  safely  say  that  any  man  who  advocates  sexual 
indulgence  on  the  ground  of  necessity  to  health  is  either  not  well  informed,  or  he 
deliberately  advocates  impurity  for  his  own  private  ends. 

Recently,  "The  American  Federation  for  Sex  Hygiene,"  of  which  Dr.  Prince  A. 
Morrow,  one  of  the  leading  specialists  not  only  of  America,  but  of  the  world  v/as  presi- 
dent, adopted  the  following  resolution  on  the  subject  which  was  presented  by  another 
eminent  physician.  Dr.  Robert  N.  Willson,  of  Philadelphia,  the  same  to  be  offered  to 
the  American  Medical  Association  for  its  adoption: 

"Whereas,  there  is   ample  evidence  of   a  belief  deeply   grounded   among   the 

laity  that  sexual  indulgence  is  necessary  to  the  health  of  the  normal  man; 

"Be  it  resolved.  That  the  American  Medical  Association  through  its  House  of 

Delegates,  hereby  present  for  the  instruction  and  protection  of  the  lay  public  the 

unqualified  declaration   that   illicit   sexual   intercourse   is   not   only   unnecessary    to 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SEXUAL  SYSTEM  99 

health,  but  that  its  direct  consequences  in  terms  of  infectious  disease  constitute  a 
grave  menace  to  the  physical  integrity  of  the  individual  and  of  the  nation." 

So  that  it  may  be  considered  as  conclusively  settled  that  sexual  intercourse  is  not 
essential  to  the  health  of  any  normal  man  or  woman. 

But  there  is  another  physical  reason  why  sexual  indulgence  outside  of  wedlock 
(and  its  over-indulgence  even  then)  should  not  occur,  and  that  is  its  influence  upon  the 
offspring,  or  the  strong  tendency  for  its  transmission  to  the  child  in  a  marked  degree, 
and  the  child  may  be  abnormal  in  its  sexual  system,  either  by  serious  perversion,  or  by 
such  excessive  passion  as  to  be  almost  if  not  quite  uncontrollable.  It  is  shown  that  any 
habit  or  fixed  physical  trait  may  so  affect  the  physical  body  as  to  be  transmitted  in 
actual  structural  changes  to  the  offspring,  and  that  the  sexual  brain  and  nerve  centers 
are  actually  handed  down  from  generation  to  generation,  and  so  the  father  and  mother 
not  only  may,  but  really  do  transmit  to  their  children  the  physical  basis  for  normal, 
abnormal,  or  perverted  sexual  functions  and  powers.  Henry  Maudsley  in  his  wonderful 
work  on  "Pathology  of  the  Mind,"  says, 

"Embryologically,  both  the  feminine  and  the  male  types  are  fulfilled  in  the 
person  of  each  individual,  i.  e.,  up  to  the  end  of  the  third  month  of  intrauterine 
life  the  embryo  has  the  sexual  glands  of  both  sexes  so  perfectly  developed  that  its 
future  gender  is  still  indistinctive  and  uncertain;  and  every  man  and  every  woman 
forever  retains  in  rudimentary  form  the  traces  of  the  sexual  organs  of  the  opposite 
sex. 

"Before  puberty,  both  the  boy  and  the  girl  are  to  all  intents  and  purposes  of 
the  neuter  gender,  and  their  physical  and  mental  characters  are  not  differentiated 
in  any  marked  degree  until  the  development  of  their  sexual  organs  has  caused  them 
to  diverge  from  their  former  somewhat  parallel  course.  A  son,  who  cannot  in 
the  nature  of  the  case  exhibit  them  himself,  still  conveys  his  mother's  special 
feminine  qualities  to  his  daughter,  having  them  latent  in  him,  as  he  has  in  him 
the  rudimentary  representatives  of  the  special  female  organs;  in  like  manner,  a 
daughter  conveys  her  father's  special  masculine  qualities  to  her  son,  having  them 
latent  in  her,  as  she  has  latent  in  her  the  rudimentary  special  male  organs.  Every- 
body, male  or  female,  is  essentially  male  and  female." 

Dr.  James  Foster  Scott,  of  Washington,  very  wisely  says:  "The  pure,  healthy 
glow  of  sexuality,  which  is  the  greatest  boon  to  the  individual  and  to  the  race,  becomes 
a  curse  when  debased  by  sensuality." 

"My  strength  is  as  the  strength  of  ten. 
Because  my  heart  is  pure." 

"Purity  is  in  fact  the  crown  of  all  real  manliness;  and  the  vigorous  and  the  robust, 
who  by  repression  of  evil  have  preserved  their  sexual  potency,  make  the  best  husbands 
and  fathers,  and  they  are  the  direct  benefactors  of  the  race  by  begetting  progeny  who 
are  not  predisposed  to  sexual  vitiation  and  bodily  and  mental  degeneracy.  These  are 
laws  which  are  universally  recognized  by  all  breeders  of  stock  and  by  those  who  have 
made  a  study  of  the  races  of  mankind. 

Men  do  not  seem  to  realize  the  tremendous  importance  of  heredity,  and  that  their 
illegitimate  pleasures  and  acquired  preferences  for  impure  courses  are  as  likely  to  crop 
out  in  their  daughters  as  in  their  sons,  mvariably  m  an  evil  way,  sometimes  as  a  sur- 
charge of  lustful  passion,  sometimes  as  a  directing  influence  toward  vice  and  crime, 
and  sometimes  as  disease;  and  it  is  well  recognized  that  the  progeny  of  the  impure 
have  in  the  domain  of  their  sexual  lives  a  distinct  predilection  for  morbid  tendencies 
colored  by  eroticism. 

We  must  specially  bear  in  mind  that,  as  Clouston  says,  new  areas  of  brain  tissue — 
"vast  tracts"  of  it — are  called  into  activity  at  the  time  of  puberty,  and  that  vitiation  in  the 
genital  zone  necessarily  results  in  physical  and  ethical  defect  in  the  cerebral  structures 
and  functions. 

The  man  who  does  not  inhibit  his  sexual  longings  gives  a  bitter  seasoning  to  his  life, 
and  throws  away  the  elements  of  strength  which  must  be  conserved  in  order  to  secure  a 
manly  type  of  physique  and  mind.  Effeminacy  is  readily  apparent  in  those  who  squander 
their  sexual   force  and   all   physiologists   agree   that   the   fundamental   characteristics   of 


100  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

manhood  fail  to  appear  in  the  individual  if  he  has  too  early  in  life  sacrificed  at  the  altar 

of  lust." 

Froude  says,  in  "Short  Studies  on  Great  Subjects." 

"From  the  earliest  times  of  which  we  have  historical  knowledge  there  have 
always  been  men  who  have  recognized  the  distinction  between  the  nobler  and  baser 
parts  of  their  being.  They  have  perceived  that  if  they  would  be  men,  and  not 
beasts,  they  must  control  their  animal  passions,  prefer  truth  to  falsehood,  courage 
to  cowardice,  justice  to  violence,  and  compassion  to  cruelty.  These  are  the  elemen- 
tary principles  of  morality,  on  the  recognition  of  which  the  welfare  and  improve- 
ment of  mankind  depend,  and  human  history  has  been  little  more  than  a  record 
of  the  struggle  which  began  at  the  beginning  and  will  continue  to  the  end  between 
the  few  who  have  had  ability  to  see  into  the  truth  and  loyalty  to  obey  it,  and  the 
multitudes  who  by  evasion  or  rebellion  have  hoped  to  thrive  in  spite  of  it." 

Dr.  R.  V.  Krafft-Ebing  has  written  a  very  elaborate,  exhaustive  and  highly  scien- 
tific work  upon  the  sexual  perversions,  the  insanities  and  other  physical  diseases  which 
are  directly  due  to  inherited  tendencies  and  he  very  clearly  shows  that  these  physical 
changes  in  the  brain  centers  which  preside  over  the  sexual  life  are  so  transmitted  to  the 
offspring  as  very  often  to  be  the  cause  of  the  defect  in  the  child.     The  sexual  excesses 
of  one  or  both  parents  are  very  apt  to  transmit  to  the  child  the  same  or  worse  evils 
because  of  the  physical  changes  wrought  in  the  nervous  centers  of  the  parent.     He  says, 
"Very  few  ever  fully  appreciate  the  powerful  influence  which  sexuality  exer- 
cises over  feeling,  thought,  and  conduct,  both  in  the  individual  and  in  society.     It  is 
remarkable  that  the  sexual  life  has  received  but  a  very  subordinate  consideration 
on   the   part   of   philosophers. 

"The  purpose  of  this  treatise  is  a  description  of  the  pathological  manifestations 
of  the  sexual  life  and  an  attempt  to  refer  them  to  their  underlying  conditions.  The 
task  is  a  difficult  one,  and  in  spite  of  years  of  experience  as  alienist  and  medical 
jurist,  I  am  well  aware  that  what  I  can  offer  must  be  incomplete. 

"Even  at  the  present  time,  in  the  domain  of  sexual  criminality,  the  most  erron- 
eous opinions  are  expressed  and  the  most  unjust  sentences  pronounced,  influencing 
laws  and  public  opinion. 

"It  is  the  sad  province  of  Medicine,  and  especially  of  Psychiatry,  to  constantly 
regard  the  reverse  side  of  life — human  weakness  and  misery." 

Dr.  A.  von  Schrenck-Notzing,  of  Munich,  writes: 

"It  may  be  questioned  whether  it  is  justifiable  to  discuss  the  anomalies  of  the 
sexual  instinct  apart,  instead  of  treating  of  them  in  their  proper  place  in  psychiatry. 
As  a  rule,  they  are  certainly  only  symptoms  of  a  constitutional  malady,  or  of  a 
weakened  state  of  the  brain,  which  manifest  themselves  in  the  various  forms  of 
sexual  perversion. 

"The  propagation  of  the  human  species  is  not  committed  to  accident  or  to  the 
caprice  of  the  individual  but  made  secure  in  a  natural  instinct,  which,  with  all  con- 
quering force  and  might,  demands  fulfillment.  In  the  gratification  of  this  natural  im- 
pulse are  found  not  only  sensual  pleasure  and  sources  of  physical  well-being,  but  also 
higher  feelings  of  satisfaction  in  perpetuating  the  single,  perishable  existence,  by  the 
transmission  of  mental  and  physical  attributes  to  a  new  being.  In  coarse,  sensual 
love,  in  the  lustful  impulse  to  satisfy  this  natural  instinct,  man  stands  on  a  level  with 
the  animal;  but  it  is  given  to  him  to  raise  himself  to  a  height  where  this  natural 
instinct  no  longer  makes  him  a  slave;  higher,  nobler  feelings  are  awakened,  which, 
notwithstanding  their  sexual  origin,  expand  into  a  world  of  beauty,  sublimity,  and 
morility. 

"Christianity  gave  the  most  powerful  impulse  to  the  moral  elevation  of  the 
sexual  relations  by  raising  woman  to  social  equality  with  man  and  elevating  the 
bond  of  love  between  man  and  woman  to  a  religio-moral  institution. 

"The  fact  that  in  higher  civilization  human  love  must  be  monogamous  and  rest 
on  a  lasting  contract  was  thus  recognized.  If  nature  does  no  more  than  provide  for 
pro-creation,  a  commonwealth  (family  or  state)  cannot  exist  without  a  guaranty 
that  the  offspring  shall  flourish  physically,  morally,  and  intellectually. 

"In  spite  of  all  the  aids  which  religion,  law,  education,  and  moraHty  give  civil- 


ave 
most 
mani- 


FUNCTIONS  OF  SEXUAL  SYSTEM  101 

ized  man  in  the  bridling  of  his  passions,  he  is  always  in  danger  of  sinking  from  the 
clear  ^height  of  pure,  chaste  love  into  the  mire  of  common  sensuality. 

"In  order  to  maintain  one's  self  on  such  a  height,  a  constant  struggle  between 
natural  impulses  and  morals,  between  sensuality  and  morality,  is  required.  Only 
characters  endowed  with  strong  wills  are  able  to  completely  emancipate  themselves 
from  sensuality  and  share  in  that  pure  love  from  which  spring  the  noblest  joys  of 
human  life. 

"It  is  yet  questionable  whether,  in  the  course  of  the  later  centuries,  mankind 
has  advanced  m  morality.  It  is  certain,  however,  that  the  race  has  become  more 
modest;  and  this  phenomenon  of  civilization— this  hiding  of  the  animal  pro- 
pensities— is,  at  least,  a  concession  that  vice  makes  to  virtue." 

In  his  "Physiology  of  Love."  Mantegazza  describes  the  longings  and  impulses  of 
awakening  sexual   life,   of  which  presentiments,   indefinite   feelings,   and  impulses   h 
existed  long  before  the  epoch   of  puberty.     "This   epoch   is,   physiologically,   the   it 
important.     In  the  abundant  increase  of  feelings  and  ideas  which  it  engenders  is 
fested  the  significance  of  the  sexual  factor  in  mental  life. 

"These  impulses,  at  first  vague  and  incomprehensible,  arising  from  the  sensations 
which  are  awakened  by  organs  which  were  previously  undeveloped,  are  accompanied  by  a 
powerful  excitation  of  the  emotions.  The  psychological  reaction  of  the  sexual  impulse 
at  puberty  expresses  itself  in  a  multitude  of  manifestations  which  have  in  common  only 
the  mental  condition  of  emotion  and  the  impulse  to  express  in  some  way,  or  render 
objective,  the  strange  emotionality. 

"Over-sensual  love  can  never  be  lasting  and  true.  For  this  reason  the  first  love  is,  as 
a  rule,  very  fleeting;  because  it  is  nothing  else  than  the  flare  of  a  passion,  the  flame  of  a 
fire  of  straw. 

"Only  the  love  that  rests  upon  a  recognition  of  the  social  qualities  of  the  beloved 
person,  only  a  love  which  is  willing  not  only  to  enjoy  present  pleasures,  but  to  bear 
suifering  for  the  beloved  object  and  sacrifice  all,  is  true  love.  The  love  of  a  strongly 
constituted  man  shrinks  before  no  difficulties  or  dangers  in  order  to  gain  and  keep 
possession  of  its  object. 

"On  slight  reflection  any  one  will  see  that  real  love  (this  word  is  only  too  often 
abused)  can  be  spoken  of  only  when  the  whole  person  is  both  physically  and  mentally  the 
object  of  adoration.  Love  must  always  have  a  sensual  element,  i.  e.,  the  desire  to  possess 
the  beloved  object,  to  be  united  with  it  and  fulfill  the  laws  of  nature.  But  when  merely 
the  body  of  the  person  of  the  opposite  sex  is  the  object  of  love,  when  satisfaction  of 
sensual  pleasure  is  the  sole  object,  without  desire  to  possess  the  soul  and  enjoy  mutual 
communion,  love  is  not  genuine,  no  more  than  that  of  platonic  lovers,  who  love  only  the 
soul  and  avoid  sensual  pleasure  (many  cases  of  contrary  sensuality.)  For  the  former 
merely  the  body,  for  the  latter  simply  the  soul,  is  a  fetich,  and  the  love  of  fetichism. 
Such  cases  certainly  represent  transitions  to  pathological  fetichism.  This  assumption  is 
even  more  justified  when,  as  a  further  criterion  of  real  love,  mental  satisfaction  must 
be  given  by  the  sexual  act. 

"Sexual  instinct — as  emotion,  idea,  impulse — is  a  function  of  the  cerebral  cortex. 
Thus  far  no  definite  region  of  the  cortex  has  been  proved  to  be  exclusively  the  seat  of 
sexual  sensations  and  impulses. 

"Thus  there  is  established  a  mutual  dependence  between  the  cerebral  cortex  (as  the 
place  of  origin  of  sensations  and  ideas)  and  the  reproductive  organs.  The  latter,  by  reason 
of  physiological  processes  (hyperaemia,  secretion  of  semen,  ovulation),  give  rise  to 
sexual  ideas,  images  and  impulses. 

"The  cerebral  cortex,  by  means  of  apperceived  or  reproduced  sensual  ideas,  reacts 
on  the  reproductive  organs.  They  are  situated  in  the  lumbar  portion  of  the  cord  and  lie 
close  together.     Both  are  reflex  centers. 

"The  central  and  highest  portion  of  the  sexual  mechanism  is  the  cerebral  cortex. 
It  is  justifiable  to  presume  there  is  a  definite  region  of  the  cortex  (cerebral  center)  which 
gives  rise  to  sexual  feelings,  ideas,  and  impulses,  and  is  the  place  of  origin  of  the  psycho- 
somatic processes  which  we  designate  as  sexual  life,  sexual  instinct,  and  sexual  desire. 
This  center  is     excitable  to  both  central  and  peripheral  stimuli. 

"Under  physiological  conditions  these  stimuli  are  essentially  visual  perceptions  and 


lO'i  EQUITANIA.   OR   THE   LAND   OF   E(^UITY 

memory  pictures  (i.  e.  lascivious  stories)  and  also  tactile  impressions  (touch,  pressure 
of  the  hand,  kiss,  etc.) 

"Criminal  statistics  prove  the  sad  fact  that  sexual  crimes  are  progressively  increasing 
in  our  modern  civilization.  This  is  particularly  the  case  with  immoral  acts  with  children 
under  the  age  of  fourteen.  The  moralist  sees  in  these  sad  facts  nothing  but  the  decay  of 
general  morality,  and  in  some  instances  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  the  present  mildness 
of  the  laws  punishing  sexual  crimes,  in  comparison  with  their  severity  in  past  centuries, 
is  in  part  responsible  for  this. 

"The  medical  investigator  is  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  this  manifestation  of  modern 
social  life  stands  in  relation  to  the  predominating  nervousness  of  later  generations,  in 
that  it  begets  defective  individuals,  excites  the  sexual  instinct,  leads  to  sexual  abuse, 
and,  with  continuance  of  lasciviousness  associated  with  diminished  sexual  power,  induces 
perverse  sexual  acts. 

"Psychiatry  cannot  be  denied  the  credit  of  having  recognized  and  proved  the  psycho- 
pathological  significance  of  numerous  monstrous,  paradoxical  sexual  acts.  Law  and 
Jurisprudence  have  thus  far  given  but  little  attention  to  the  facts  resulting  from  investiga- 
tions in  psychopathology.  Law  is  in  this,  opposed  to  Medicine,  and  is  constantly  in 
danger  of  passing  judgment  on  individuals  who,  in  the  light  of  science,  are  not  responsible 
for  their  acts. 

"Owing  to  this  superficial  treatment  of  acts  that  deeply  concern  the  interests  and 
welfare  of  society,  it  becomes  very  easy  for  justice  to  treat  a  delinquent,  who  is  as 
dangerous  to  society  as  a  murderer  or  wild  beast,  as  a  criminal,  and,  after  punishment, 
release  him  to  prey  on  society  again;  on  the  other  hand,  scientific  investigation  shows 
that  a  man  mentally  and  sexually  degenerate,  aborigine,  and  therefore  irresponsible, 
must  be  removed  from  society  for  life,  but  not  as  a  punishment. 

"To  obtain  the  facts  necessary  to  allow  a  decision  of  the  question  whether  immorality 
or  abnormality  occasioned  the  act,  a  medico-legal  examination  is  required — an  examina- 
tion which  is  made  according  to  the  rules  of  science;  which  takes  account  of  both  the 
past  history  of  the  individual  and  the  present  condition — the  anthropological  and  clinical 
data. 

"The  proof  of  the  existence  of  an  origmal,  congenital  anomaly  of  the  sexual  sphere 
is  important,  and  points  to  the  need  of  an  examination  in  the  direction  of  a  condition  of 
psychical  degeneration.  An  acquired  perversity,  to  be  pathological,  must  be  found  to 
depend  upon  a  neuropathic  or  psychopathic  state. 

"Practically,  peretic  dementia  and  epilepsy  must  first  come  to  mind.  The  decision 
concerning  responsibility  will  depend  on  the  demonstration  of  the  existence  of  a  psycho- 
pathic state  in  the  individual  convicted  of  a  sexual  crime. 

"Th'is  is  indispensable,  to  avoid  the  danger  of  covering  simple  immorality  with  the 
cloak  of  disease." 

But  these  are  by  no  means  all  of  the  evil  results  of  sexual  excesses  and  perversions. 

There  is 

1st.  The  solitary  vice,  begun  oftentimes  in  the  young  before  its  significance  is  at  all 
understood,  and  the  habit  firmly  fixed  before  the  child  learns  of  its  evil  effects.  Some- 
times it  is  taught  by  playmates  and  again  by  older  persons  who  know  better.  As  a  result 
of  this  vice  there  is  produced  an  excessive  sexual  desire  and  an  overdevelopement  of  the 
organs  themselves  and  of  the  nerve  centers  which  preside  over  this  function,  and  this  latter 
is  prone  to  lead  to  either  illicit  intercourse,  too  early  marriage  in  order  that  it  may  be 
gratified,  or  excessive  indulgence  after  marriage  to  the  annoyance  or  injury  of  both 
husband  and  wife.  Another  injury  coming  to  the  child  given  to  solitary  vice,  is  nervous 
excitability,  lowered  moral  sensibility,  lack  of  brain  power  for  study,  and  mental  con- 
centration, and  occasionally  real  melancholia  or  other  form  of  insanity.  It  would  be 
shocking  to  the  good  people  of  any  community  to  know  how  widely  prevalent  is  the  habit 
among  boys  and  girls. 

2nd.  Perhaps  a  more  serious  evil  still  resulting  from  abnormal  and  over  stimulated 
sexual  centers  is  the  wide  spread  cry  among  men  especially  for  prostitution  and  illegal 
intercourse  and  the  widespread  venereal  diseases.  So  prevalent  is  the  feeling  among  men 
that  this  is  a  necessary  and  much  needed  liberty  or  institution  that  you  almost  never  hear 
of  an  attempt  to  suppress  it.  In  fact  many  claiming  that  if  the  bawdy  house  were  not 
allowed,   no  woman   would  be   safe   from   the   insults   and   where   possible   the   forcible 


CAUSES  OP^  PROSTITUTION  103 

debauchery  of  men.  So  that  all  that  seems  ever  to  be  asked  is  the  regulation  of  the 
vice  to  protect  its  votaries  from  the  awful  scourge  of  venereal  diseases  which  follow  in  its 
train.  In  other  words,  the  sexual  system  so  controls  mankind  today  that  no  one  seems 
to  think  it  possible  to  do  more  than  mitigate  its  evils,  protect  in  some  measure  those  who 
will  indulge  and  thus  make  it  as  safe  for  them  as  possible,  and  not  let  it  ruin  the  bodies 
of  its  victims  nor  too  seriously  affect  the  offspring  and  other  innocent  parties  who  may  be 
unconsciously  involved  in  its  evil  effects.     Dr.  James  Foster  Scott  of  Washington  says: 

"In  the  study  of  the  factors  which  lead  to  prostitution  we  must  recognize  that 
a  certain  proportion  of  women  are  'strumpets  at  heart,'  as  men  so  often  say — 
though  not  understanding  why  they  say  it." 

Lombroso,  in  "The  Female  Offender,"  has  shown  that  there  is  "an  intimate  correla- 
tion between  bodily  and  mental  conditions  and  processes,  and  criminologists  recognize 
certain  stigmata,  or  anatomical  defects  and  peculiarities  in  habital  malefactors,  which 
are  much  more  common  among  them  than  the  normal  individuals  of  society. 

"Among  criminals,  especially  habitual  criminals  we  find  physical  anomalies  of  various 
parts  of  the  anatomy,  such  as  abnormal  crania,  misshapen  ears,  eyes  on  a  different  level, 
or  eyes  too  near  together  or  too  wide  apart,  crooked  noses,  hare-lips,  cleft  palates, 
highly  arched  palates,  malformations  of  the  teeth  or  tongue,  supernumerary  digits, 
abnormal  limbs  and  bodies,  etc.  In  fact,  there  is  found  to  be  a  distinct  correlation  be- 
tween the  physical  defects  and  the  m.ental  processes.     This  is  a  law  of  criminology. 

"From  measurements  of  a  larn;e  number  of  harlots,  Lombroso  shows  that  they  are 
remarkable  for  their  small  cranial  capacities.  Heredity  and  atavism  have  inclined  many 
to  this  sort  of  life,  and  thus  many  harlots  have  "fallen  victims  to  their  grandfather's 
excesses;"  or,  as  South  says,  they  have  been  "not  so  much  born,  as  damned,  into  the 
world;   through  the  sins  of  their  parents." 

A  speaker  recently  called  attention  to  the  record  of  the  two  families,  that  of  Jona- 
than Edwards  and  that  of  the  degenerate  Jukes,  the  period  of  examination  stretching  over 
170  years.  Jonathan  Edwards,  the  famous  New  England  divine  is  said  to  have  conse- 
crated his  Hfe  to  God,  praying  that  God  would  make  his  children  true  to  the  covenant. 
Not  one  of  his  eleven  children  died  in  infancy;  four  lived  to  the  age  of  70.  From  Jona- 
than Edwards  in  1  70  years  there  descended  285  college  graduates,  65  college  professors, 
13  college  presidents  (including  Yale  and  Princeton),  30  judges,  and  100  lawyers.  Of 
the  man  Jukes  one-fourth  of  the  children  died  in  infancy.  There  descended  from  his 
in  170  years  310  who  spent  their  days  in  alms  houses,  140  who  wrecked  their  lives  by 
vice,  60  professional  thieves,  50  professional  prostitutes.  Only  20  of  his  descendants 
learned  any  trade,  and  ten  of  these  learned  it  in  prison.  These  people  cost  the  community 
in  which  they  lived  $1,250,000.00,  besides  untold  terrible  influences  which  eternity  alone 
will   reveal. 

When  the  historian  tells  us  that  Patricius  the  father  of  St.  Augustine  was  a  pagan 
of  somewhat  loose  life,  we  are  not  so  much  surprised  at  the  fast  life  led  by  the  son  while 
young.  And  when  we  are  told  farther  that,  'His  mother  Monnica  on  account  of  her 
personal  piety  and  her  influence  on  her  son,  is  one  of  the  mose  revered  women  in  the 
history  of  the  Christian  church,  we  can  readily  appreciate  the  change  in  his  life  to  one  of 
exalted  and  surpassing  excellence  in  the  faith  which  rescued  him  from  evil  and  which 
he  so  f?reatly  honored  in  his  after  life,  bv  service  to  his  Master  and  his  fellowman. 

"Most  prostitutes  claim  that  they  beq!an  their  life  of  shame  after  being  seduced,  and 
in  the  large  majority  of  cases  they  speak  the  truth. 

"The  probabilities  of  a  decrease  in  the  crime  of  seduction  are  very  slight,  so  long  as 
the  present  public  sentiment  prevails;  while  the  seducer  is  allowed  to  go  unpunished  and 
the  full  measure  of  retribution  is  directed  against  his  victim;  while  the  offender  escapes, 
but  the  offended  is  condemned.  Unprincipled  men,  ready  to  take  advantage  of  a  woman  s 
trustful  nature,  abound,  and  they  pursue  their  diabolical  courses  unmolested.  Leial 
enactments  can  scarcely  ever  reach  them,  although  sometimes  a  poor  man  without 
friends  or  money  is  mdicted  and  convicted.  The  remedy  must  be  left  to  the  world  at 
large  When  our  domestic  relations  are  such  that  a  man  known  to  be  guilty  of  this  crime 
can  obtain  no  admission  into  the  family  circle;  when  the  virtuous  and  respectable 
members  of  the  community  agree  that  no  such  man  shall  be  welcomed  to  their  society; 


104  EgllTANIA,   OK   TlIK    LAND   OK   EQUITY 

when  worth  and  honor  assert  their  supremacy  over  weaUh  and  boldness,  there  may  be 
hopes  of  a  reformation,  but  not  till  then. 

"Absence  of  religious  training  and  belief  leads  straight  to  a  life  of  unchastity  in  a 
large  number  of  instances.  Religion  is  the  strongest  incentive  to  purity,  and,  as  a  rule, 
when  it  is  put  aside,  morality  expires. 

"The  beauty  of  the  Christian  religion,  when  presented  in  the  way  intended  by  its 
Founder,  makes  a  deep  impression  on  their  hearts;  but  what  would  the  apostles  say  if 
they  were  to  see  that  hardly  a  pew  in  any  church  invites  or  welcomes  or  tolertaes  them, 
while  fallen  men,  hypocrites  that  they  are.  bow  the  knee  at  the  communion-table  before 
the  world. 

"In  order  to  satisfy  this  monstrous  exaction  of  lustful  men,  male  and  female  procurers 
percolate  the  lower  strata  of  society,  incessantly  recruiting  the  youngest  and  most  attrac- 
tive girls  they  can  find. 

"In  Continental  Europe  there  are  organized  agencies  with  branches  in  remote  sections, 
whose  business  it  is  to  keep  and  supply  attractive  women  for  immoral  purposes;  and  the 
same  nefarious  traffic  is  flourishing  in  our  own  land. 

"There  are  men  and  women  abroad,  called  respectively  procurers  and  procureresses, 
whose  sole  livelihood  consisits  in  inveigling  young  girls  into  this  life  by  force,  or  fraud, 
or  other  means.  "Oh,  surely  this  is  a  mistake!"  one  cries  out  in  his  heart  of  hearts;  but 
no — the  brothel  needs  such  monsters,  who  think  nothing  of  entrapping  an  innocent  girl, 
of  turning  her  imprudent  steps  along  a  torturing  path  to  an  outcast's  life  and  a  shameful 
grave,  and  who  for  money  lead  her  to  suspect  no  evil  and  enshroud  her  with  the  filthy 
pall  of  the  courtesan.  The  price  of  blood  is  paid  by  the  defiled  men  who  patronize 
brothels. 

"At  'intelligence  offices'  for  servants,  at  lodging-houses,  and  even  at  churches,  Sun- 
day-schools and  hospitals,  there  are  innumerable  opportunities  to  meet  girls  who  are  out 
of  employment,  or  who  are  dissatisfied  with  their  conditions  of  life.  Many  are  led  into 
traps  by  seemingly  proper  and  enticing  advertisements  which  continually  appear  in  the 
columns  of  the  newspapers.  When  the  unsuspecting  young  women  meet  the  advertisers, 
they  are  delighted  with  their  pleasing  manners  and  the  promise  of  large  wages  and  easy 
work.  Thus  very  often  a  country  lass  does  not  know  that  she  is  a  servant  in  a  brothel 
until  many  days  have  elapsed;  and  a  little  drugged  wine,  the  removal  of  her  clothing 
so  that  she  cannot  escape,  and  tact  on  the  part  of  the  mistress  of  the  house,  soon  accomplish 
her  ruin.  Lurking  about  the  incoming  trains  are  frequently  to  be  seen  ladies  and  gentle- 
men of  benevolent  aspect  who  are  eager  to  assist  any  innocent-lookin??  girl  in  finding 
employment  or  a  nice  lodging-house.  Even  the  hospitals  are  visited  and  friendships  made 
with  destitute  girls,  by  gifts  of  flowers  and  other  kindnesses,  so  that  when  the  deluded 
victims  leave  the  ward  they  confidingly  go  with  the  sanctimonious  procuress  to  their  un- 
suspected doom. 

"Cabmen  are  sometimes  known  to  drive  girls  to  wrong  addresses  and  act  as  agents 
for  the  mistresses  of  brothels,  receiving  money  rewards,  of  course,  if  the  ruse  is  successful. 

"The  efforts  which  have  been  exerted  heretofore  have  been  mainly  in  the  direction  of 
enc'  :.voring  to  rescue  fallen  women;  but  laudable  as  this  undoubtedly  is,  it  is  nevertheless 
ineilective.  It  is  the  men  who  must  be  appealed  to  and  regulated — for  as  long  as  they 
simply  create  a  demand  by  their  patronage  there  will  surely  be  a  supply.  The  fault  is 
that  there  is  a  double  standard  of  morality — one  rule  for  men  and  another  for  women. 
A  portion  of  womankind  are  tolled  off  to  lead  chaste  lives,  and  another  portion  to  be 
abominably  profligate,  while  many  men  reserve  the  right  to  be  as  impure  as  they  please, 
at  least  at  some  time  in  their  lives,  and  foolishly  entertain  the  pernicious  belief  that  their 
perversity  will  not  result  in  lasting  detriment  to  their  character  and  health  and  offspring. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  there  has  arisen  in  society  a  figure  which  is  certainly 
the  most  mournful,  and  in  some  respects  the  most  awful,  upon  which  the  eye  of  the 
moralist  can  dwell.  That  unhappy  being  whose  very  name  is  a  shame  to  speak;  who 
counterfeits  with  a  cold  heart  the  transports  of  affection,  and  submits  herself  as  the 
passive  instrument  of  lust;  who  is  scorned  and  insulted  as  the  vilest  of  her  sex,  and 
doomed,  for  the  most  part,  to  disease  and  abject  wretchedness  and  an  early  death, 
appears  in  every  age  as  the  perpetual  symbol  of  the  degradation  and  the  sinfulness  of 
man. 

"There  is  probably  no  country  in  which  the  provisions  of  this  Contagious  Disease  Act 


CAUSES  OP^  PROSTITUTION  105 

have  been  so  thoroughly  carried  out  as  in  Germany;  nevertheless,  the  commission 
appointed  by  the  Society  of  Medicine  of  Berlin,  with  Porf.  Virchow,  as  President,  recently 
reported,  as  the  result  of  an  investigation,  that  both  prostitution  and  venereal  diseases 
were  found  to  be  rapidly  increasing  in  Berlin.  For  example,  the  number  of  regular  pros- 
titutes, recognized  as  such  by  the  police,  was,  in  1886,  3,006.  The  number  had  increased 
in  1891  to  4,364,  an  increase  of  almost  50  per  cent.  This  represents,  however,  but  a 
small  proportion  of  the  women  actually  engaged  in  prostitution,  as  16,000  women  are 
annually  arrested  for  plying  their  vocation  upon  the  streets  in  Berlin,  and  it  is  known 
that  a  great  number  of  women  live  lives  of  prostitution  clandestinely,  so  that  the  com- 
mittee estimate  the  total  number  of  prostitutes  in  Berlin  at  40,000  to  50,000. 

"Some  idea  of  the  number  of  persons  who  are  annually  infected  by  venereal  disease 
may  be  gained  from  the  fact  that  the  committee  reported  nearly  80,000  cases  as  having 
been  treated  at  two  hospitals  alone  in  Berlin  between  1880  and  1889.  The  fact  was  also 
mentioned  by  the  committee  that  a  great  number  of  cases  were  doubtless  not  included 
in  this  catagory.  They  quote  the  estimate  of  Blacshko,  that  one  in  every  nine  or  ten  of 
the  male  population   of  Berlin   has  been   infected  with   syphilis. 

"A  most  convincing  evidence  of  the  utter  inefficiency  of  the  inspection  service  in 
preventing  the  spread  of  venereal  disease,  was  shown  by  the  fact  developed  by  the 
committee,  that  the  naked-eye  inspection,  which  has  been  universally  relied  upon,  detects 
less  than  one  in  five  of  the  cases  of  gonorrhoea,  to  say  nothing  of  syphilis.  By  making 
a  bacteriological  examination  of  each  case,  the  proportion  of  prostitutes  found  to  be 
suffermg  from  gonorrhoea  was  mcreased  from  9  per  cent  to  50  per  cent. 

"Prostitution  is  regarded  as  the  shame  of  women;  it  is  not — it  is  the  shame  of  men. 
It  is  the  unwholesome  play  of  men,  but  the  degradation  and  death  of  women. 

"In  the  United  States  there  is  no  regulation  of  prostitution  openly  recognized  by  law; 
but  propositions  are  constantly  brought  before  the  legislatures  of  the  various  states,  having 
in  view  the  "State  Regulation  and  Control  of  Vice."  Within  the  past  few  years  stren- 
uous efforts  have  been  made  to  secure  the  licensing  of  brothels  in  New  York,  Philadel- 
phia, Baltimore,  Washington,  Cincinnati,  Chicago,  Pittsburg,  San  Francisco,  and  some 
other  cities;  but  public  sentiment  has  so  far  caused  the  projects  to  fail — with  one  excep- 
tion— the  St.  Louis  experiment  of  1870  was  the  one  instance  in  our  country  in  which 
regulation  was  enforced  by  law,  in  accordance  with  the  recommendations  of  commissioners 
who  were  sent  to  Europe  to  study  the  methods  there  in  vogue.  It,  however,  proved  an 
utter  failure,  and  was  repealed  by  the  Missouri  legislature  of  1873  in  deference  to  the 
appeals  of  the  best  citizens,  assembled  in  mass-meetings.  During  the  unwholesome  years 
in  which  the  license  laws  were  in  force  there,  the  number  of  prostitutes  increased  at  the 
rate  of  20  per  cent  a  year,  and  venereal  diseases  extended  in  a  corresponding  ratio,  as 
shown  by  the  records  of  the  United  States  Marine  Hospital. 

"The  license  system  has  been  found  pernicious  and  has  been  repealed  in  many 
municipalities  and  localities  in  France,  Belgium,  Denmark,  Italy,  Switzerland,  Germany, 
Holland,  Sweden,  and  some  other  countries;  and  Great  Britain  and  Norway  have 
absolutely   abolished    all    regulations." 

At  The  Hague,  in  Holland,  Dr.  Huett,  the  prefect  of  police,  a  surgeon  of  high 
standing,  says: 

"The  number  of  clandestine  women-  cannot  be  estimated  and  is  continually 
increased.  You  ask  me  if  the  laws  of  regulation  work  well  for  morality.  I  reply. 
No!  Do  they  work  well  for  the  suppression  of  syphilis?  I  reply.  No!  Do  they 
really  diminish  disease?     My  opinion  is,  no,  no,  no!" 

Dr.  Chanfleury,  of  Holland,  who  was  for  many  years  an  advocate  of  the  Regulation 
System,  and  officially  employed  in  the  work  of  supervision,  reported  his  final  conclusions 
regarding  the  system  to  the  last  meeting  of  the  "Continental  Federation  for  the  Suppres- 
sion of  State  Regulation"  as  follows: 

1st.  That  it  is  absolutely  impossible  by  any  medical  supervision  to  guarantee 
the  health  of  a  woman  leading  a  life  of  vice. 

"2nd.  That  any  partial  advantages  of  such  supervision  are  more  than  com- 
pensated by  the  increase  of  libertinism  engendered  by  a  false  sense  of  security,  so 
that  such  supervision  actually  results  in  increased  disease  among  men. 

"3rd.  That  the  attempt  at  supervision  is  demoralizing  to  all  engaged  in  it." 


10(1  KgllTAN'lA,    OK   TIIH    LAND   OF    EQUITY 

And  the  eminent  French  statesman.  M.  Jules  Faure,  who  expresses  the  verdict  of 
experienced  men  in  continental  Europe,  says; 

"Governments  have  never  looked  the  question  of  prostitution  fairly  in  the  face; 
but  when  interfering  at  all,  have  almost  invariably  done  so  in  order  to  elevate  it 
into  an  institution,  by  which  means  they  have  increased  and  given  permanence  to 
the  evil.  Regard  for  the  public  health  is  their  sole  excuse.  But  even  the  worst 
that  could  befall  the  public  health  is  nothing  to  the  corruption  of  morals  and  national 
life  engendered,  propagated,  and  prolonged  by  the  system  of  official  surveillance.  It 
is  utterly  inexcusable,  and  an  act  of  supreme  folly,  to  give  a  legal  sanction  to  the 
licentiousness  of  one  sex  and  the  enslavement  of  the  other." 

"It  ought  to  arouse  suspicion  that  this  movement  is  supported  by  the  brothel- 
keepers;  but  the  association  has  adopted  a  fair-sounding  name,  the  Woman's  Rescue 
League.  It  proposes  to  appeal  to  women  of  the  country,  apparently  in  the  interests 
of  morality,  and  it  professes  to  be  working  only  for  the  public  health.  Now,  all 
these  things  are  deceptive;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  they  are  put  forward  with 
the  aid  of  persons  who  are  making  a  living  out  of  vice,  you  may  be  sure  they  are 
meant  to  be  deceptive.  I  have  no  doubt  whatever  but  what  many  good  people, 
many  good  Christians  even,  sincerely  believe  that  the  regulation  of  vice  is  right  and 
proper  in  the  interest  of  good  morals.  I  am  just  as  sure  that  if  they  knew  what 
regulated  vice  is,  they  would  have  none  of  it;  they  would  recognize  it  for  what 
Dr.  Charles  Bell  Taylor,  on  the  second  reading  of  a  'Bill  for  the  Repeal  of  the 
Contagious  Diseases  Acts,'  in  England,  called  it  in  the  House  of  Commons,  a  'des- 
potism so  obscenely  cruel,  so  hideously  unjust,  so  unconstitutional,  that  it  is  impos- 
sible to  understand  how  any  decent  race  of  men  consent  to  endure  it,  even  for  a 
day.'  It  is  an  interesting  comment  on  a  movement  which  asks  the  decent  men  and 
women  of  Washington  for  regulation,  to  read  that  while  the  English  regulation 
rules  were  in  force  in  India,  the  Pharisees  of  the  country  and  the  Buddhists  of  China 
defied  the  Christian  English  to  put  the  examinations  of  women  in  force  over  their 
women." — Prof.  H.  A.  Kelley. 

"And  the  law  also  should  at  once  take  the  stand  that  in  this  destructive  business 
the  men  should  be  amenable  to  the  same  punishments  as  the  women;  and  that 
the  gentler  sex,  the  sex  which  bears  children,  should  not  be  portioned  off  as  instru- 
ments for  the  irresponsible  lust  of  profligate  men." 

Here  is  the  way  in  which  one  doctor  views  the  regulation  and  supervision  of  this 
vice  in  the  army  and  navy  of  the  United  States: 

"Common  sense  is  triumphing  in  spite  of  the  pernicious  opposition  of  both  sexes, 
who  will  not  see  things  as  they  are.  Our  army  and  navy  officers  are  energetically 
introducing  prophylactic  measures,  and  while  they  still  consider  it  their  duty,  quite 
properly,  to  advise  abstinence  to  the  soldiers  and  sailors,  they  do  not  neglect  at  the 
same  time  to  provide  them  with  protargol  tubes  and  calomel  ointment,  in  case 
they  should  expose  themselves.  And  everywhere  where  the  prophylactic  measures 
are  introduced  the  incidence  of  venereal  infection  is  reduced  50  to  100  per  cent! 
So  sure  and  so  unfailing  are  our  preventive  remedies  for  prevention  that  it  is  proposed 
to  make  venereal  disease  among  soldiers  and  sailors  a  punishable  offense.  In  some 
parts  it  is  already  so  considered.  For  instance.  Dr.  C.  F.  Morse,  in  a  paper  entitled 
The  Prevalence  and  Prophylaxis  of  Venereal  Diseases  at  One  Military  Post  says  that 
men  who,  having  failed  to  report,  were  later  found  with  acute  infections,  were 
tried  by  Summary  Court,  not  for  contracting  disease,  but  for  failure  to  comply  with 
post  orders  requiring  reporting  for  prophylaxis,  and  the  moral  effect  of  the  fines 
imposed  has  materially  assisted  in  the  success  of  the  plan.' 

"Syphilis  and  gonorrhea  can  be  entirely  prevented  in  the  army,  and  if  we  were 
given  the  means  and  the  power,  we  would  eradicate  venereal  disease  from  the 
civilized  portions  of  the  globe  in  less  than  two  decades." 

Now  of  course  those  who  believe  that  intercourse  is  essential  to  health,  or  that  it  is 
a  natural  instinct  which  ought  not  to  be  and  cannot  be  controlled  will  do  well  perhaps 
to  advocate  some  such  scheme  as  the  above  for  the  army  and  navy,  and  therefore  that 
public  houses  of  prostitution  should  be  licensed  and  placed  under  careful  and  scientific 
supervision.     But  those  of  us  who  are  abreast  of  modern  science  and  believe  that  while 


PREVENTION  OF  PROSTITUTION  107 

man  is  an  animal,  he  is  something  more  than  an  animal,  and  herein  shows  that  he  is 
something  higher  and  better  than  a  mere  animal  by  holding  in  control  the  animal  nature 
and  making  it  subserve  all  the  real  usefulness  of  such  function  and  by  keeping  it  in 
subjection  to  his  higher  and  better  nature,  makes  him  tower  infinitely  above  the  sordid 
and  baser  things  of  life,  will  demand  something  very  different.  Surely  no  one  but  can 
see  that  the  man  or  woman  who  is  endowed  with  all  the  natural  powers  and  passions 
belonging  to  him  or  her,  and  yet  holds  them  in  abeyance  and  submission  is  vastly 
superior  to  the  one  who  weakly  gives  way  and  drops  on  the  plane  of  the  mere  animal 
which  indulges  for  pleasure  only,  without  regard  to  reason  or  the  higher  mental  and 
spiritual  faculties. 

I  grant  you  it  is  easier,  more  natural,  less  annoying  to  yield  to  these  impulses;  but 
for  this  very  purpose  man  has  been  endowed  with  reason,  power  to  acquire  knowledge, 
judgment,  conscience,  and  will  that  he  might  choose  and  do  the  right  and  best  even  when 
wrong  seemed  most  enticing  and  almost  necessary. 

It  is  this  power  of  choosing  that  lifts  man  above  the  brute  creation. 

In  a  lecture  delivered  by  Professor  John  B.  Roberts  before  the  medical  students  of 
the  Medical  Department  of  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  he  says,  "If  you  wish  to  see 
the  finger  of  God  pointing  to  the  truth  of  his  threat  to  visit  the  sins  of  the  fathers  upon 
the  children  of  succeeding  generations,  examine  the  physical  characteristics  of  a  thousand 
school  children.  The  stunted  and  senile  appearance  of  some,  and  in  others  the 
ulcerations,  the  scars,  the  bone  diseases,  the  blindness,  the  deafness,  the  deformed  noses, 
the  palsies  and  the  other  late  manifestations  of  syphilis  and  gonorrhoea,  will  be  sufficient." 

"Should  one  still  be  unconvinced  of  the  economic  importance  of  these  communicable 
disorders,  think  of  the  bearing  of  syphilitic  endarteritis  upon  cerebral  apoplexy,  insanity, 
aneurism,  and  gangrene;  of  the  action  of  syphilis  as  a  cause  of  kidney  disease,  locomotor 
ataxia  and  softening  of  the  brain;  and  remember  that  gonorrhoea  is  the  chief  cause  of 
sterility  in  man  and  woman,  and  that  syphilis  and  criminal  mal-practice  are  the  chief 
reasons  that  pregnant  women  miscarry.  A  distinguished  writer  on  these  topics  (Dr. 
Prince  A.  Morrow)  has  estimated  that  one-eighth  of  all  human  disease  and  suffering 
comes  from  inoculation  with  these  venereal  ills,  and  that  to  them  is  due  one-fifteenth  of 
all  cases  of  blindness.  It  is  said  that  25,000  infants  die  annually  in  France  from  these 
infections.  It  is  probable  that  over  50  per  cent  of  the  inflammatory  disease  of  the 
female  pelvis  is  due  to  gonorrhoea.  In  the  vast  majority  of  married  patients  having  these 
conditions  the  wife  has  been  infected  by  her  husband,  who  hcs  in  many  instances  thought 
himself  cured  of  an  old  gonorrhoeal  urethritis. 

"Fournier  says  that  one-seventh  of  the  population  of  France  is  syphilitic.  The 
statement  has  been  made  that  in  European  cities  about  three-fourths  of  the  male 
inhabitants  have  had  gonorrhoea.  While  we  should  recognize  the  possibility  of  error  in 
many  of  these  statistics,  they  must  be  given  a  large  degree  of  credence. 

"My  belief  in  their  general  truth  causes  me  to  wonder  which  parent  has  been  stenlized 
by  previous  gonorrhoea,  when  I  hear  of  several  years'  married  life  without  issue.  When 
I  see  a  family  with  but  one  child,  I  am  very  prone  to  ask  myself  whether  the  mother  had 
been  affected  with  gonorrhoea  at  her  first  conception  and  hence  could  never  become 
pregnant  a  second  time.  Venereal  disease  is  certainly  not  the  explanation  in  all  cases 
but  it  is  in  many. 

"I  have  said  enough  to  make  you  realize  the  grave  importance  of  these  diseases, 
which  lower  the  birth  rate  of  a  country  by  sterilizing  the  wives  in  thousands,  which  bring 
the  women  to  the  mutilating  knife  of  the  surgeon  by  hundreds,  which  blind  the  babies 
by  scores,  and  which  render  the  males  of  the  household  unable  to  work  for  weeks  because 
of  physical  disability. 

"Prevention  is  the  solution  of  the  problem  before  us.  Gonorrhoea  and  syphilis  will 
disappear  as  epidemic  diseases  in  the  body  social  when  chastity  is  demanded  of  men  as 
rigidly  as  it  is  demanded  of  women.  The  man  has  for  ages  demanded  that  his  wife  be 
pure.  Let  the  woman  demand  now  that  her  husband  be,  and  continue  to  be,  pure  and 
a  revolution  will  be  accomplished  at  one  stroke.  It  is  an  error  to  believe  that  woman  s 
chastity  was  originally  due  entirely  to  her  superior  virtue  or  to  her  lessened  animal 
passion.  Read  John  Stewart  Mill  on  the  "Subjection  of  Woman"  and  study  similar 
philosophical  essays.     You  will  see  that  man  demanded  virtue  in  the  woman,  whom  he 


lOS  EQUITAXIA.   OK   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

considered  his  private  property,  at  the  point  of  the  sword.  It  is  not  strange  that 
feminine  chastity  has  become  recognized  as  an  essential  quality  of  all  respected  women. 

"Ignorance  of  the  risk  of  their  own  health,  happiness,  and  motherhood  permits  maids 
to  accept  husbands  from  the  infected  men  of  the  community.  Social  indifference  has 
condoned  under  the  title  of  "wild  oats"  the  sexual  vices  of  male  adolescents.  It  is  the 
duty  of  doctors  to  displace  this  state  of  ignorance  with  a  knowledge  of  the  physiology 
of  the  sex,  of  the  need  of  masculine  chastity  and  of  the  danger  of  incontinence.  The 
knowledge  that  a  man  and  a  woman  can  create  another  human  being  at  will  raises  them 
in  a  sense  to  companionship  with  the  Almighty  Creator  himself.  Is  not  this  thought 
enough  to  make  one  tremble  to  dally  with  the  sexual  function  and  thus  pervert  or 
destroy  it. 

"Medical  men  should  insist  on  the  well-known  physiological  fact  that  sexual  continence 
is  not  harmful,  but  that  male  chastity  is  as  essential  to  good  health  and  good  morals  as 
female  chastity.  There  is  no  hygienic  reason  for  indulging  in  solitary  vice  or  consorting 
with  prostitutes,  public  or  clandestine.  It  is  far  better  to  abstain  from  all  such  sexual 
vices.  A  man's  reproductive  organs,  as  those  of  a  woman,  are  given  to  continue  the  race. 
Marriage  is  in  a  certain  sense  an  artificial  relation  designed  to  promote  the  public  weal 
and  protect  the  children;  but  it  is  also  a  physiological  and  spiritual  union.  In  it  alone 
is  the  use  of  the  procreative  power  permissible.  Any  relaxation  of  this  law  leads  to 
disaster  to  the  individual  and  to  the  state. 

"The  diffusion  of  venereal  diseases  is  primarily  due  to  indiscriminate  gratification  of 
the  sexual  appetite.  This  immoral  use  of  the  noble  procreative  function  is  the  result  of 
a  mistaken  belief  that  continence  in  males  is  harmful,  public  sentiment  condoning  vicious 
acts  in  men  though  not  in  women,  and  a  reckless  disposition  on  the  part  of  parents  to 
shirk  the  duty  of  teaching  boys  and  girls  at  the  time  of  puberty  the  truths  of  sexual 
life.  As  a  result  many  youths  become  tainted  with  gonorrhoea  and  syphilis.  Many  non- 
medical citizens  will  consider  sexual  iregularities  and  consequent  disease  as  a  joke. 

"How  are  young  men  and  women  seduced  from  the  paths  of  virtue?  Lecherous  men, 
and  private  as  well  as  public  prostitutes,  mingle  in  public  places  with  decent  members  of 
society.  Women  and  men  divorced  from  their  conjugal  associates  because  of  sexual 
immorality  are  admitted  to  our  homes  and  flaunt  their  disgraceful  conduct  in  the  face  of 
good  citizens.  Salacious  books,  indecent  pictures,  foul  stories,  suggestive  drama,  and 
vile  operas,  find  admirers  among  the  most  intelligent." 

The  following  clipped  from  a  leading  daily  paper  after  an  address  before  the  local 
Young  Men's  Christian  Association  shows  how  little  the  average  man,  even  leaders  in  the 
community,  know  about  the  real  causes  of  prostitution,  or  its  widespread  existence,  and 
hence  how  little  they  know  of  its  cure. 

"Brigadier  General  Still^'ell  of  the  Salvation  army  is  to  be  commended  for  her 
rescue  home  work.  The  facts  she  presents  are  appalling.  Sixty  thousand  girls 
going  through  the  redlight  district  every  year  to  death  and  the  grave!  The  rescue 
homes  save  four  or  five  thousand  every  year. 

"There  are  many  times  more  men  who  frequent  the  redlight  district  than 
women,  and  a  majority  of  the  men,  it  is  said,  are  married  men.  General  Stillwell 
does  not  say  why  married  men  desert  their  wives  and  their  homes  for  the  low 
companionship  and  the  disease  of  the  brothel.  Is  it  because  the  men  are  totally 
depraved?  Is  it  because  wives  fail  to  make  the  home  attractive?  Do  the  wives, 
after  marriage  fail  to  make  themselves  attractive?  The  saving  of  five  or  six  thousand 
girls  every  year  is  noble  work,  but  would  not  the  saving  of  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand 
men,  that  being  the  proportion  that  General  Stillwell  gives,  be  also  a  noble  work? 
"Does  the  conventional  wall  that  society  builds  up  between  the  sexes,  so  that 
the  stony  stare  is  given  by  every  woman  to  any  man  to  whom  she  has  not  been 
formally  introduced,  drive  the  man  who  is  away  from  home,  or  the  younger  man  who 
lives  at  a  hotel  or  boarding  house  to  seek  female  companionship  where  such 
conventions  do  not  exist?  Is  a  woman  in  danger  of  assault  or  contamination  always 
and  everywhere  so  that  the  common  civilities  of  life  must  not  be  accorded  the  male, 
except  under  the  most  rigid  regulations?  Because  a  few  men  are  beasts  and  a  few 
women  sexual  perverts,  does  it  follow  that  a  wall,  miles  high,  should  be  built  up 


PREVENTION  OF  PROSTITUTION  109 

between  the  sexes  in  the  cities  where  hundreds  of  thousands  of  them  must  be  thrown 
constantly  in  close  personal  contract?  Does  not  the  fact  that  no  such  wall  exists  in 
the  rural  districts  partly  account  for  the  better  moral  conditions  prevailing  there? 
Although  rescue  homes  are  good  institutions  may  not  other  and  more  effectual 
means  be  employed  to  reduce  the  population  of  the  red  light  district?" 

Now  if  leading  men  in  our  large  cities  are  so  thoroughly  ignorant  (and  I  am  sure  they 
are)  of  the  sexual  vices,  as  this  editorial  shows,  how  very  crude  must  be  the  views  of 
others,  and  especially  reputable  women,  upon  this  subject.  And  since  no  remedy  can  be 
intelligently  applied  until  the  nature  of  the  malady  and  its  cause,  or  causes,  are  well 
understood,  how  very  important  that  some  people  turn  on  the  searchlight,  throw  back 
the  curtains,  and  expose  to  view  the  true  conditions  that  all  lovers  of  the  race  may  see 
just  where  to  take  hold,  that  each  doing  his  part,  and  all  working  together,  real  progress 
and  advancement  may  be  made  in  the  purification  of  our  social  life,  and  the  salvation  of 
humanity  attained. 

First,  then,  why  do  so  many  married  men  visit  the  brothel?  I  answer,  because 
their  wives  do  not  satisfy  them  sexually.  Oftentimes  wives  do  not  even  try  to  please  their 
husbands  in  this  respect,  generally  from  ignorance  that  this  is  one  of  the  high  duties  they 
assume  when  they  enter  the  marriage  relations.  Hence  the  husband  soon  tires  of  this 
indifference,  lukewarmness,  or  repugnance,  and  goes  where  for  a  fee  he  can  have  some 
interest  shown  him  in  this  particular  pleasure,  which  too  many,  many  men,  think  a  chief 
thing  in  life.  And  you  may  say  what  you  will  about  prostitutes,  they  are  wise  in  their 
business,  and  they  know  it  pays  in  dollars  and  cents  only  when  they  please  their 
customers,  and  since  that  is  the  sum  total  of  their  business,  and  their  whole  success 
depends  upon  pleasing  the  men  who  visit  them,  they  use  all  possible  effort  to  gain 
their  good  will  and  have  them  come  again,  and  this  is  where  and  how  the  prostitute 
wins  men  away  from  their  wives,  and  it  will  never  be  corrected  while  man 
remains  what  he  is,  until  wives  learn  to  do  their  own  reasonable  and  fair  part  to  overcome 
it  by  making  an  honest  effort,  in  trying  to  gratify  this  one  controlling  desire  in  their 
husbands.  No  woman  has  any  business  getting  married  in  this  day  and  age  of  the  world 
unless  she  expects  to  do  two  things,  first,  be  a  companion  to  her  husband  in  the  conjugal 
relations,  and  second  bear  children  cheerfully,  if  she  become  pregnant.  Unless  women 
do  these  two  things,  the  prostitute  will  simply  be  meetmg  a  demand  that  no  rules  nor 
regulations  nor  prohibitions  can  eradicate.  The  divorce  evil  will  never  be  corrected  until 
wives  meet  the  above  conditions  more  heroically,  and  go  into  marriage  understanding 
these  two  conditions  and  bravely  do  their  best  to  meet  them  successfully. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  the  prostitute  will  serve  from  three  to  a  dozen  or  more 
men  daily,  and  therefore  it  is  not  unreasonable  to  ask  and  expect  a  wife  to  gratify  one 
normal  man,  if  she  expects  or  hopes  to  retain  his  love,  respect  or  loyalty.  It  is  true  that 
where  men  and  women  reach  the  high  and  true  ideals  of  life,  these  functions  will  be 
exercised  chiefly,  if  not  solely,  for  procreation,  but  it  is  not  so  now,  and  it  will  take  some 
generations  of  education,  culture,  and  training  to  reach  this  happy  state  where  soul  shall 
be  absolutely  supreme  in  man.  Therefore,  pending  such  achievement,  let  women,  for  their 
own  sake,  do  their  duty  by  their  husbands,  while  together  they  cultivate  these  higher  and 
better  things  of  the  soul. 

Self-control,  self-mastery,  is  the  fundamental  thing  in  building  useful,  honorable, 
and  creditable  character. 

Do  men  have  more  sexual  passion  than  women,  and  if  so,  why?  Yes,  the  sexual 
passion  is  more  strongly  developed  in  men  than  in  women,  for  several  reasons;  but  the 
most  important  one  is  that  he  may  prove  his  worth  as  head  of  the  house,  head  of  the 
family  and  leader,  by  showing  his  own  self-mastery  and  self-control  of  this  natural,  essen- 
tial, important,  unruly,  and  yet  controllable  function.  For  "Better  is  he  that  ruleth  his 
spirit,  than  he  that  taketh  a  city,"  and  only  he  who  rules  himself  well,  has  just  claim  to  rule 
or  exercise  authority  over  others.  This  is  a  real  test  of  strength,  of  moral  worth  and 
excellence;  and  he  who  has  the  wisdom,  the  dignity,  the  high  type  of  manhood  to  rightly 
exercise  this  function  in  the  interests  of  the  best  health,  the  best  morals,  and  the  greatest 
good  to  the  community  and  posterity  is  entitled  to  honor  and  preferment. 


110  EQUITAXIA.   OR   THE    LAND   OF    KC^'ITY 

Krishna  truly  said  in  the  "Song  Caleslial:" 

"That  man  alone  is  wise  who  keeps  the  mastery  of  himself, 
*     ¥     *     "Yea!  whose  shaking  off  the  yoke  of  flesh. 
Lives  lord,  not  servant  of  his  lusts;  set  free 
From  pride,  from  passion,  from  the  sin  of  'self,' 
Toucheth   tranquility." 

Third.  And  yet  another  evil  which  results  to  the  community  from  sexual  excesses, 
is  the  large  number  of  murders  which  are  daily  committed,  oftentimes  by  people  who  are 
considered  good  citizens,  and  too  many  times  stand  well  in  the  church. 

Dr.  Roberts  above  quoted  sayes  on  this  point,  "Criminal  physicians  can  easily  be 
found  to  relieve  the  pregnant  prostitute  and  unwillnng  wife  of  the  living  embryo  in  her 
womb.  Many  hospitals  unwisely  refuse  to  treat  cases  of  venereal  disease,  because  of  the 
immoral  way  in  which  these  affections  are  often  acquired.  Medical  and  religious  teachers 
keep  silence  from  a  false  modesty  or  a  cowardly  indifference.  The  duty  of  citizens  in 
relation  to  social  vice  is  to  practice  personal,  and  insist  on  public  morality;  to  advocate 
instruction  in  the  physiology  of  sex  and  dangers  of  venereal  diseases  to  all  adolescents 
and  adults;  to  discourage  social  recognition  of  immoral  men,  to  prevent  the  marriage  of 
gonorrhoeal  and  syphilitic  subjects  until  danger  of  infection  has  been  practically  averted 
by  treatment;  and  finally  to  aid  the  legal  authorities  of  the  community  to  convict  and 
punish  criminal  abortions." 

Dr.  James  Foster  Scott  well  says,  "The  saying  of  Linnaeus,  'Omni  vivum  ex  ovo,' 
is  now  known  to  be  true,  for  all  animal  life  springs  from  a  cell  which  has  all  the  true 
characteristics  of  an  egg.  The  ova  of  all  animals  higher  in  the  scale  of  life  than  the 
protozoa,  i.  e.,  from  the  porifera,  or  sponges,  up  through  the  animal  kingdom,  including 
man,  are  scarcely  distinguishable  from  one  another  in  their  essential  characteristics  and 
their  structure,  though  varying  much  in  size  in  the  different  animals." 

Let  us  quote  here  from  the  report  of  the  committee  appointed  by  the  New  York 
Medico-Legal  Society — James  J.  O'Dea,  M.  D.  (Chairman),  Elbridge  T.  Gerry,  Geo.  F. 
Shrady,  M.  D.,  Wm.  Shrady,  Stephen  Rogers,  M.  D.,  Judge  Gunning  S.  Bedford, 
committee: 

"At  length  Christanity  came  to  measure  swords  with  the  growing  evil."  i.  e., 
in  the  first  century.  "For  a  time  the  contest  was  warm.  A  society  corrupted  by 
ill-gotten  wealth  and  sensual  gratification  would  not  surrender  such  convenient 
doctrine  without  a  determined  resistance.  The  battle  waxed  fierce,  but  the  already 
assured  triumph  of  the  purifying  faith  was  postponed  by  a  compromise  (how 
originated  or  by  whom  proposed  does  not  appear)  no  less  disastrous  than  the  pagan 
theory  it  supplanted. 

"By  this  compromise  it  was  agreed  to  consider  the  foetus  as  endowed  with 
life  only  from  the  date  of  the  maternal  sensation  called  'quickening.'  Abortions 
forced  after  'quickening'  were  branded  as  serious  crimes,  but  all  so  caused  before 
this  period  were  suffered  to  pass  unnoticed.  Henceforth  'quick'  became  a  word  of 
evil  omen.  It  is  true  the  canon  law  subsequently  disregarded  this  compromise, 
declared  the  foetus  alive  from  conception,  and  condemned  its  destruction  at  any 
period  of  uterogestation  as  a  great  and  wicked  crime.  The  Christian  Church,  to 
its  eternal  honor  be  it  said,  has  ever  advocated  and  enforced  the  principle  of  the 
inviolability  of  foetal  life.  But  the  mischief  could  not  be  undone.  A  doctrine,  only 
a  degree  less  heartless  than  its  pagan  predecessor,  took  firm  hold  on  society.  How 
effectually  it  influences  the  opinion  and  practice  of  our  own  time,  how  completely  it 
has  permeated  all,  but  more  particularly  the  higher  ranks  of  contemporary  society, 
needs  not  to  be  insisted  on  here.  Among  those  who  are  competent  to  pronounce  on 
this  question  of  'quickening'  there  is,  however,  but  one  opinion,  and  to  it  your 
committee  ask  the  undivided  attention  of  the  community.  The  foetus  is  alive  from 
conception,  and  all  intentional  killing  of  it  is  murder.  The  world  is  free  to  discuss 
the  transcendental  problem  concerning  the  stage  of  development  at  which  the  foetus 
becomes  endowed  with  a  soul.  If  there  never  were  such  an  existence  as  a  soul,  if  men 
perished  utterly  when  they  died,  laws  against  murder  would  still  hold  good,  because 
laws  against  murder  were  enforced,  not  for  the  soul's  sake,  but  to  preserve  the 
peace  and  even  the  existence  of  society. 


PREVENTION  OF  MURDER  HI 

"Aristotle  taught  that  no  child  should  be  permitted  to  be  born  alive  whose  mother 
was  more  than  forty,  or  whose  father  was  more  than  fifty  years  of  age. 

"The  teaching  of  the  ancient  Greek  and  Roman  philosophers  resulted  so  disas- 
trously that  it  became  necessary  to  denounce  the  practice,  and  this  was  vehemently 
done  by  Ovid,  Seneca,  and  by  Juvenal.  In  one  'satire,'  after  praising  the  exemplary 
patience  with  which  the  matrons  of  the  lower  classes  bore  the  pains  of  labor  and 
the  fatigues  of  nursing,  he  upbraids  the  ladies  of  fashion  with  their  unwillingness  to 
submit  to  these  duties.  'You'll  scarce  hear  tell,'  says  Juvenal,  'of  a  lying-in  among 
ladies  of  quality,  such  is  the  power  of  art,  such  the  force  of  medicines  prepared  by 
the  midwife  to  cause  barrenness  and  abortion.' 

"But  with  every  allowance  for  the  great  frequency  of  accidental  abortion,  it  is 
well  recognized,  intentional  and  unnecessary  destruction  of  the  foetus  represents  a 
carnage  of  such  vast  proportions  as  to  be  almost  beyond  belief.  There  is  no  darker 
page  in  history  than  the  record  of  this  sin,  and  probably  at  no  period  has  the  slaughter 
been  greater  than  in  our  own  times." 

The  "Report  of  the  Special  Committee  on  Criminal  Abortion" — committee,  Edward 

Cox,  H.  0.  Hitchcock,  S.  S.  French — contains  this  startling  passage: 

"To  so  great  an  extent  is  this  (abortion)  now  practiced  by  American  Protestant 
women  that,  by  calculation  of  one  of  the  committee,  based  upon  correspondence  with 
nearly  one  hundred  physicians,  there  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  profession  seven- 
teen abortions  to  every  one  hundred  pregnancies;  to  these  the  committee  believe  may 
be  added  as  many  more  that  never  come  to  the  physician's  knowledge,  making  thirty- 
four  per  cent,  or  one-third,  of  all  cases  ending  in  mis-carriage;  that  in  the  United 
States  the  number  is  not  less  than  one  hundred  thousand,  and  the  number  of  women 
who  die  from  its  immediate  effects  not  less  than  six  thousand  per  annum." 
In  fairness  to  the  Roman  Church  it  must  be  said  to  its  glory  that  its  women  rarely 

resort  to  this  crime,  the  priests  giving  the  soundest  of  teaching  to  their  parishioners  on 

these  vital  points,  as  follows: 

"The  destruction  of  the  embryo  at  any  period  from  the  first  instant  of  conception 
is  a  crime  equal  in  guilt  to  that  of  murder;   that  to  admit  its  practice  is  to  open  the 
way  for  the  most  unbridled  licentiousness,  and  to  take  away  the  responsibility  of 
maternity  is  to  destroy  one  of  the  strongest  bulwarks  of  female  virtue." 
And   again   let  us   quote   from   the   report   of   the  Special   Committee   on   Criminal 

Abortion : 

"It  is  well  known  that  in  this  country  the  faithful  ministrations  of  the  Catholic 
clergy  prevent  the  commission  of  the  crime  to  such  an  extent  that  it  is  very  seldom 
committed  by  a  Catholic  married  woman,  and  the  committee  believes  that  if  the 
Protestant  clergy  would  properly  present  the  subject  to  their  congregations,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  press  and  other  auxiliaries,  the  crime  would  soon  become  as  rare 
among  the  Protestants  as  the  Catholic  women." 
Westermarck,  "History  of  Human  Marriage:" 

"Thus,  Herr  von  Koppenfells  states  that  the  male  gorilla  'spends"  the  night 
crouching  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  against  which  he  places  his  back,  and  thus  protects 
the  female  and  their  young,  which  are  in  the  nest  above,  from  the  noctural  attacks 
of   leopards.' 

"Dr.  W.  B.  Dorsett  calls  attention  to  the  frequency  of  criminal  abortion.  The 
mdifference  of  the  clergy,  of  the  press  and  of  society  in  general,  throws  an  added 
responsibility  on  the  medical  profession.  He  cites  a  statement  of  Justice  John 
Proctor  Clark  to  the  effect  that  100,000  abortions  are  annually  committed  in  New 
York  alone  and  an  estimate  of  Dr.  C.  B.  Bacon  that  from  20  to  25  per  cent  of  all 
pregnancies  terminate  in  abortion,  and  that  of  this  per  cent  one-half  are  from  induced, 
i.  e.,  criminal,  abortion.  Good  Dr.  Dorsett  proposes  two  remedies;  I.  The  obligatory 
teaching  of  medical  jurisprudence  and  medical  ethics  in  its  true  sense  in  our  medical 
colleges.  This  should  be  statutory,  and  medical  examining  boards  should  be  em- 
powered to  enforce  the  laws  of  their  states  and  to  declare  all  schools  not  requiring 
a  full  course  of  medical  ethics  not  in  good  standing  and  their  graduates  ineligible 
to  practice  medicine.  2.  The  enactment  of  good  and  sufficient  laws  and  the  amend- 
ment of  inefficient  laws  now  on  our  statute  books." 


112  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

To  learn  what  is  good  for  one's  self  in  the  promotion  of  his  highest  and  best 
interests,  and  then  deliberately  choose  the  course  of  self-denial,  if  need  be,  of 
subjection  of  all  his  powers,  passions,  appetites,  and  desires  to  its  attainment  is  the 
province  of  a  man,  and  in  just  the  proportion  to  which  this  is  done  does  he  prove 
to  be  a  high  or  low  type  of  a  man.  If  man  cannot  be  taught  self-control,  then  he  is 
a  failure  as  a  moral  being,  and  is  nothing  more  than  a  high  grade  animal.  Educa- 
tion, culture  and  training  should  be  such  as  to  bring  into  play  the  power  of  choice, 
based  upon  knowledge  of  what  is  best  for  the  individual  and  then  the  exercise  of 
the  Will  to  enforce  the  choice  made.  In  this  way,  and  in  this  only  can  man  be 
progressive  and  grow  into  moral  perfection  and  likeness  unto  Him  in  whose  image 
he  was  created.  Hence  the  Apostolic  injunctioon,  I  Thess.  4:3,  4:  'For  this  is  the 
will  of  God,  even  your  sanctification,  that  ye  should  abstain  from  fornication.  That 
every  one  of  you  should  know  how  to  possess  his  vessel  in  sanctification  and  honor,' 

And  because  the  Almighty  knew  man's  needs  and  what  he  ought  to  do  and  what  he 
should  daily  strive  to  do.  He  gave  him  the  many  Scriptural  admonitions  urging  him  to 
bring  into  action  and  effective  service  this  Will  power.  See  Prov.  6:20-26;  Prov.  20:28, 
29,  32,  also  Prov.  7:1-27. 

No  sentimentalism  here,  no  evidence  that  man,  a  real  man,  needs  to  be  shut  up  so 
that  he  cannot  violate  the  rules  of  chastity.  No  plan  here  to  license  impurity,  to  make  it 
impossible  for  man  to  indulge,  or  make  it  physically  safe  for  him  to  do  so.  No  other  plan 
is  proposed  by  the  Infinitly  Wise  and  Good  Being  than  to  implant  in  man's  mind  the 
knowledge  of  what  is  good  for  him,  then  inspire  him  with  a  desire  to  achieve  that  good 
and  finally  a  will  or  determination  to  do  so. 

Perhaps,  too,  there  is  no  better  illustration  in  nature  of  that  Scriptural  warning 
that  the  "Inquities  of  fathers  shall  be  visited  upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and 
fourth  generation,"  than  in  sexual  matters,  for  not  only  are  diseases,  syphilitic,  epileptic 
and  mental  transmitted  to  the  children  and  still  later  descendents,  but  this  sexual  excess 
or  perversity  is  handed  down  by  the  physical  changes  in  the  brain  and  nervous  system, 
and  there  is  no  escape  from  it. 

Joseph  in  Egypt,  resisting  the  pleadings  and  enticements  of  Potiphar's  wife  is  a 
type  of  real  manhood,  and  no  right  minded  man  or  woman  but  can  see  in  this  illustration 
the  far  greater  character  and  moral  power  in  this  young  man  than  if  he  had  yielded 
to  the  temptation  or  than  would  have  been  in  him  if  he  had  been  able  to  resist  only  when 
there  was  no  possibility  of  yielding  to  his  natural  impulses.  It  is  the  voluntary  com- 
batting evil  desires  and  tendencies  within  us  that  makes  us  strong.  It  is  this  victory  over 
self,  this  ever  struggling  upward  and  triumphing  over  the  evil  within  that  gives  self- 
mastery  and  self-control.  He  who  having  the  natural  impulses,  instincts  and  desires, 
with  good  and  sufficient  opportunity  to  fully  gratify  them,  yet  holds  them  in  control  and 
always  within  the  bounds  of  his  own  highest  interest,  and  subjects  them  fully  to  reason 
and  right  is  the  real  man. 

It  was  evidently  one  of  the  purposes  of  the  Almighty  in  giving  men  this  sacred 
function  and  uniting  so  closely  with  one  of  the  highest  and  strongest  laws  of  his  being, 
namely  the  desire  to  propagate  his  species,  and  make  it  pleasurable  as  well,  that  he 
might  have  it  ever  with  him  an  innate  part  of  his  being,  so  that  if  rightly  used  it  would 
raise  him  to  the  highest  possible  type  of  being,  even  above  the  angels;  but  if  abused 
and  basely  misused  would  sink  him  to  the  lowest  depths,  even  below  devils,  which  so 
far  as  we  know  do  not  propagate  themselves. 

If  a  man  has  no  passion  it  is  plainly  no  credit  to  him  not  to  indulge.  If  a  man  has 
the  desire,  but  does  not  indulge  for  fear  of  getting  caught,  or  for  fear  of  contracting  dis- 
ease, it  is  no  credit  to  him.  If  a  man  is  surrounded  by  barriers  of  whatever  kind  which 
make  it  impossible  for  him  to  indulge,  then  the  non-indulgence  is  in  no  way  creditable 
to  him.  Only  when  he  has  the  full  power  of  passion,  with  opportunity  and  then  restrains 
himself  within  the  limits  of  right  and  reason,  which  is  normal  wedlock,  and  at  no  other 
time  and  in  no  other  way  can  he  be  said  to  be  growing  in  real  moral  character  from  a 
sexual  standpoint. 

4th.  Another  serious  evil  growing  out  of  abuse  of  the  sexual  system  is  divorce. 
Marriage  has  become  in  too  many  instances  a  mere  civil  contract,  and  is  annulled  at  the 
flimsiest  excuse  as  other  contracts  are.     Marriage  was  originally  intended  as  a  sacred 


CAUSES  OF  CP:LIBACY  113 

bond  of  union,  a  uniting  of  man  and  wife  in  the  deepest  and  most  abiding  love.  A 
union  which  should  be  the  establishment  of  a  home,  the  creating  of  beings  like  unto  them- 
selves and  rearing  these  little  ones  into  mature,  useful  and  happy  beings  to  go  on  in  an 
increasing  ratio  of  growth.  Such  a  union,  and  such  products  were  to  bind  parents  to- 
gether in  the  holiest  and  happiest  bonds  of  love.  Instead  of  this  what  do  we  see? 
Divorces  so  common  as  to  be  a  menace  to  the  perpetuity  of  the  home  and  a  serious  obstacle 
to  the  stability  of  the  state  and  disruptive  of  good  morals. 

The  sexual  excesses  and  the  abuse  of  this  sacred  function  has  so  fastened  itself  upon 
the  race  that  often  men,  and  sometimes  women,  are  not  true  to  their  vows  and  of  course 
the  offended  party  may  rightly  apply  for  and  secure  divorce.  But  more  often  people  are 
attracted  to  each  other  and  without  due  and  reasonable  consideration  are  married,  but 
finding  themselves  not  sexually  mated,  and  this  I  am  sure  is  the  most  frequent  cause  of 
divorce,  quickly  are  divorced. 

Dr.  James  Foster  Scott  says,  and  I  think  wisely,  "Some  statisticians  say  that 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  marriages  are  unhappy;  nor  can  it  be  wondered  at  so  long  as  a 
debased  society  continues  to  condone  profligacy.  So  far  from  the  hot  blood  of  youth 
being  chiefly  responsible,  houses  of  ill-fame  derive  two-thirds  of  their  income  from  married 
men  over  forty." 

"The  essentials  of  the  secret  of  a  happy  marriage,  by  deduction  from  the  foregoing, 
may  be  shortly  summed  up  as  follows: 

"That  man  and  woman  shall  be  well  mated  physically,  sexually  and  mentally,  in  har- 
mony in  their  moral  sympathies,  and  possessed  of  the  normal  sexual  inclinations  and 
longings;  that  each  shall  enter  into  the  relationship  in  virginity,  chastity  and  modesty, 
and  that  neither  shall  be  the  slave  of  polluted  imperious  mental  concepts;  that  each  shall 
represent  the  sum  total  of  sexual  possibilities  for  the  other,  upon  assurance  of  which  there 
can  hardly  be  jealousy  or  suspicion;  that  they  shall  appreciate  that  marriage  is,  in  a 
sense,  an  immortal  relationship,  their  lives  continuing  in  their  posterity;  that  the  husband 
shall  regard  his  wife  with  a  deep  reverence  as  occupying  the  throne  of  nature,  considering 
her  sex  and  her  potentiality  for  motherhood  as  sacred,  and  that  the  wife  shall  be  able  to 
confide  in  the  sure  faithfulness  and  protection  of  the  husband  for  herself  and  offspring; 
and  that  the  foundations  of  their  conjugal  relationship  shall  be  laid  in  a  love  which  will 
bind  them  together  and  cause  them  to  endure  all  and  suffer  all  for  each  other's  sake. 

"Produce  happy  and  rational  marriages  and  the  plea  for  divorce  will  seldom  be  made, 
and  one  means  to  this  end  is  more  sane  and  better  poised  sexual  systems,  and  a  more 
intelligent  and  reasonable  exercise  of  this  function." 

5th.  Anoher  and  final  evil  which  1  see  constantly  resulting  from  the  over  developed 
and  highly  exaggerated  sexual  system  is,  more  men  remain  bachelors,  refusing  to  marry, 
establish  homes  and  become  sponsors  for  families,  thus  leaving  more  and  more  young 
women  without  life  companions.  If  the  sexual  instinct  be  a  perfectly  natural  one  and 
may  rightly  be  exercised  out  of  wedlock  for  pleasure,  then  why  marry  and  be  confined  to 
one  woman  for  this  delightful  occastional  pastime,  they  say?  In  this  manner  one  is  not 
tied  down  to  the  home,  has  greater  liberty  and  freedom,  and  then  one  is  not  bothered 
with  a  sick  wife,  or  the  cares  of  raising  children,  for  if  pregnancy  should  occur  in  any 
of  these  illicit  pleasures,  some  doctor  or  other  criminal  will  help  to  get  rid  of  the  small 
and  helpless  human  being  and  the  father  goes  scott  free,  even  if  the  mother  does  often 
suffer  ill  health  ever  after  it,  or  even  dies  as  they  many  limes  do. 

Thus  the  young  man  reasons,  and  thus  it  is  that  even  when  some  of  these  libertines  do 
marry  they  are  not  long  satisfied  with  the  embraces  of  one  woman  and  so  get  up  some  poor 
excuse  for  a  divorce  and  soon  marry  another. 

Now  because  the  sexual  system  of  the  race  is  so  vastly  over  stimulated  and  because 
so  much  is  made  of  the  pleasurable  side  of  it,  rather  than  its  other  higher  and  belter 
functions,  therefore  the  young  man  reasoning  correctly,  but  from  false  premises,  con- 
cludes that  there  is  nothing  in  marriage,  and  so  remains  single,  and  by  reason  of  the 
customs  of  our  modern  good  society,  the  young  ladies  not  being  allowed  to  court  and 
make  proposals,  many  of  them  are  also  forced  into  lives  of  single  blessedness  who  would 
otherwise   make   good   wives,   mothers,    and   home   makers. 

All  other  excuses  generally  given  why  so  many  men  remain  single,  are  as  nothing 
when  compared  with  this  one. 


lit  EQUITAXIA,   OH   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

And  now  let  us  suggest,  you  are  not  responsible  for  any  defects  or  imperfections 
which  have  been  handed  down  to  you  from  your  parents,  or  other  ancestors,  nor  should 
you  too  severely  criticise  them,  for  they  may  not  have  known,  in  fact  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
for  the  most  part  they  did  not  know  the  full  import  of  these  inherited  tendencies  as  you 
may  know  them  in  this  twentieth  century. 

But  you  are  responsible  in  no  small  degree  for  what  you  transmit  to  your  children; 
and  further,  no  matter  how  much  of  evil  has  been  handed  down  to  you,  it  is  in  your 
power  to  so  modify  evil  proclivities  that  you  may  make  it  vastly  easier  and  better  for  your 
child  than  if  you  do  not  make  this  strenuous  and  laudable  effort  herein  suggested.  What 
then  is  the  remedy?  If  we  were  to  answer  in  one  brief  sentence  we  would  say  the  remedy 
is  proper  education. 

First,  let  the  children,  both  boys  and  girls  be  taught  the  function  of  these  important 
organs,  beginning  at  least  when  they  are  eight  years  old.  The  information  may  be  given 
by  parents  and  the  family  physician.  But  more  important  and  better  still,  let  each  state 
have  one  or  more  competent  physicians  whose  duty  it  shall  be  to  teach  these  things  to 
the  children  in  all  the  public  schools,  from  the  time  they  are  eight  years  of  age  until  they 
are  sixteen,  and  in  all  the  schools  of  higher  learning. 

The  boys  and  girls  should  be  given  the  instruction  separately,  by  means  of  charts, 
pictures  and  stereopticon  views,  beginning  with  the  lower  forms  of  life,  flowers,  plants, 
animals  and  then  closing  with  the  organs  in  man.  These  lectures  and  illustrations  should 
je  given  every  year  to  all  the  boys  and  girls  separately,  having  those  from  eight  to  ten 
together  at  one  time,  and  those  over  ten  to  twelve  and  over  twelve  to  sixteen. 

If  it  be  any  part  of  the  duty  of  the  state  to  provide  education  for  the  children  belong- 
ing to  the  state  (and  I  assume  that  this  quesion  has  been  so  long  settled  in  the  affirmative, 
that  we  do  not  need  to  prove  it)  then  it  should  be  the  aim  of  the  state  to  provide  proper 
education  for  the  children,  and  then  the  question  merely  turns  upon  what  is  proper 
education?  And  surely  no  one  can  find  fault  with  the  definition.  Proper  education  is  t.hat 
which  best  fits  one  for  the  duties  of  life. 

The  injunction,  "Know  thyself"  is  very  important,  and  one  has  always  to  do  with  and 
deal  with  himself,  and  therefore  he  should  know  as  much  of  himself  as  is  compatible 
with  his  capacities  and  possibilities,  not  conflicting  with  other  duties  and  obligations. 
Then,  too,  since  we  have  to  do  with  ourselves  from  our  earliest  consciousness  all  through 
life  to  our  very  last  breath,  and  even  out  into  the  great  eternity,  and  finally  since  our 
greatest  successes  in  life,  as  well  as  our  future  destiny  depends  in  so  large  measure  upon 
what  we  do  with  ourselves,  how  we  handle  our  bodies  with  all  of  their  faculties,  passions 
and  powers,  why  is  it  not  reasonable  to  begin  early  with  the  proper  study  of  our  bodies 
and  our  souls,  or  with  the  Ego?  And  since  the  sexual  system  is  such  an  important  factor 
in  the  individual  as  well  as  in  the  home,  society,  and  the  state,  why  should  not  proper 
instruction  concerning  this  system  be  given  to  the  children  before  the  age  that  it  largely 
begins  to  influence  the  whole  life?  Why  should  not  this  information  be  given  before  the 
damage  from  ignorance  has  been  done?  Why  not  impart  this  konwledge  at  the  time  it  will 
do  most  good  to  the  individual,  for  this  will  bring  the  largest  returns  to  the  home,  society 
and  the  state  in  happiness,  health  and  economy.  Again,  if  it  be  true,  (as  we  think  all 
will  admit  who  give  it  thoughtful  attention)  that  the  Will  Power  (so  essential  to  good  moral 
character)  can  best  be  strengthened  and  developed  by  choosing  and  doing  the  right,  or 
refusing  and  not  doing  the  wrong;  then  certainly  teaching  right  views  about  this  important 
system,  and  showing  the  young  not  only  that  they  ought,  but  they  can  control  it 
within  the  bounds  of  reason  and  right  is  a  duty  of  greatest  magnitude  imposed  upon  the 
state. 

No  person  ever  commits  a  sin  without  first  an  evil  thought.  No  one  ever  commits 
an  error  without  first  an  erroneous  thought.  No  one  ever  has  an  evil  desire  without  first 
an  evil  thought.  No  one  ever  has  an  evil  aspiration  without  first  an  evil  thought.  All 
thoughts  are  the  result  of  impressions  made  upon  the  brain  by  the  action  of  one  of  the 
five  senses,  sight,  hearing,  feeling,  tasting  and  smelling  or  imagination.  In  other  words, 
the  human  brain  is  the  soil  upon  which  the  seeds  of  thought  are  sown  and  these  springing 
up  bear  fruit  in  desires,  aspirations  and  actions,  and  these  fruits  are  good  or  bad  according 
as  the  seed  sown  is  good  or  bad.  To  produce  right  desires,  aspirations  and  actions,  you 
must  plant  right  seed,  that  is  the  thoughts  must  be  right.  The  brain  of  the  young  child 
is  virgin  soil  and  it  will  rapidly  produce  fruitage  from  whatever  seeds   (thoughts)    are 


FOUNDATIONS  OF  MORAL  CHARACTER  115 

planted,  hence  the  importance  of  sowing  or  planting  right  seed  early  in  order  to  have 
good  crops  from  the  beginning.  Knowledge  is  accumulated  thought.  Reason  sorts  out 
and  puts  in  order  knowledge,  then  judgment  gives  the  conclusions  and  chooses  the  way, 
and  Will  executes  the  choice.  Therefore  it  must  be  evident  to  every  thinking  person 
that  the  right  seeds  must  be  sown  to  get  right  desires  and  that  if  the  child  has  right 
thoughts  planted  in  its  mind,  and  it  is  trained  to  draw  right  conclusions  from  these 
thoughts,  and  then  Will  to  carry  out  in  practice  these  reasonable  results  of  thought  it 
will  thereby  get  Self-control  of  its  own  being  and  do  the  right  because  it  is  right,  and 
because  by  such  course  the  highest  end  of  its  being  will  be  attained  and  the  greatest 
happiness  will  be  achieved. 

Now  the  Soul  is  the  Divine  essence  imparted  to  man  to  rule  and  preside  over  this 
body  with  its  brain  power,  its  passions  and  all  its  faculties,  to  guide  and  control  and  direct 
them  and  make  a  perfect  man.  The  first  Adam  was  such  a  man,  but  by  choosing  dis- 
obedience he  fell  into  discord  and  out  of  harmony  with  God.  The  last  Adam,  Christ, 
was  also  such  a  man,  and  he  by  choosing  and  observing  obedience  continued  in  harmony 
with  God  and  thereby  showed  us  the  way,  and  hence  said,  "I  am  the  way,  the  truth  and 
the  life."  It  is  in  all  of  us  and  will  be  until  the  end  of  time,  that  same  old  question. 
How  to  bring  this  body  (which  is  but  the  temporal  abode  of  the  soul)  into  harmony  with 
God  by  complete  obedience  to  His  laws,  and  this  cannot  be  done  until  we  get  our  thoughts 
right,  our  desires  right,  and  our  wills  in  harmony  with  His. 

Man  differs  from  the  highest  of  all  other  animals  in  several  important  respects,  chief 
of  which  are  the  folowing: 

1 .  Possibilities  of  infinite  growth  and  developemnt  of  mind  because  he  is  a 
part  of  the  Infinite. 

2.  Consciousness  of  his  own  personal  existence;   the  Ego. 

3.  Conscious  of  right  and  wrong. 

4.  Conscious  of  accountability  to,  faith  in,  and  reverence  for  a  Super-human 
being. 

5.  Imagination,  consciousness  of  and  aspiration  for  growth,  development  and 
immortality. 

With  these  facts  in  mmd  give  the  boys  and  girls  a  basis  for  the  formation  of  character 
Then  teach  them  the  things  concerning  their  own  bodies  which  they  ought  to  know. 
Teach  them  futher  the  ordinary  duties  of  life.  Give  them  methods  of  education,  implant 
within  their  minds  a  desire  for  useful  knowledge;  show  them  in  history,  literature  and 
art,  the  sciences  and  geography,  some  of  the  things  which  will  arrest  attention  and  find  a 
responsive  chord  to  lead  them  to  further  self-improvement.  It  is  planting  good  seeds  and 
noble  thoughts  in  the  mind  which  must  be  relied  upon  to-  produce  worthy  desires  and 
aspirations  in  the  mind  of  the  child  and  the  youth.  The  child  must  have  a  worthy  ideal 
before  it  and  a  basis  of  worth  in  character,  and  then  when  corresponding  thoughts  are 
daily  instilled  into  the  mind  of  the  child,  loftier,  nobler  and  more  worthy  aims  and  ambi- 
tions will  spring  up  as  motives  in  the  child,  and  with  these  will  develop  truer  views  of  life 
and  the  effort  to  be  useful  and  helpful,  unselfish  and  kindly  to  others  will  be  the  spirit  of 
each,  rather  than  so  much  of  s.elfishness,  "every  man  for  himself"  and  greed  will  be  the 
exception  instead  of  the  rule.  Upon  such  a  basis,  too,  will  men  be  more  considerate  of  one 
another  in  the  matter  of  employment  as  Master  and  Servant.  Wages  will  be  more  fairly 
and  equitably  arranged.  There  will  not  be  so  many  underpaid  clerks,  girls  and  other 
employees.  There  will  be  better  employers  and  better  laborers.  The  houses  of  prostitution 
will  not  then  be  so  largely  recruited  from  underpaid  girls,  nor  the  poverty  so  wide  spread 
among  common  laborers.  There  will  be  more  of  hope  and  good  cheer  for  all  classes 
because  every  man  will  have  some  reasonable  regard  for  the  rights  of  others,  the  rich  for 
the  poor,  and  the  poor  for  the  rich,  capital  for  labor  and  labor  for  capital.  Competitors 
will  not  be  so  unfair  in  the  trades,  manufacturing,  industries,  business  callings  and  pro- 
fessions, but  each  can  see  equity  and  fair  play  done  to  his  fellowman  with  pleasure  and 
not  with  envy  or  jealousy.  Let  the  ideal  of  every  child  be  right,  plant  the  seeds  of  good 
thought  in  the  child's  mind,  cultivate  the  soil  of  the  young  brain  to  rid  it  of  the  weeds  of 
evil  thoughts;  and  good  desires  and  noble  aims  will  spring  up  to  bear  fruit  in  useful  lives. 

I  have  noted  with  surprise  the  following  summary  of  the  recommendations  of  the 
Chicago  Vice  Commission : 


116  KgUlTANlA,   OK   THE    LAND   OF   EgLlTV 

"Instruction  of  children  twelve  to  sixteen  years  of  age  in  sex  hygiene;  by  per- 
sonal attention  of  parents;  physical  examination  of  applicants  for  marriage  licenses; 
better  pay  for  girls;  abolishment  of  the  fining  system  against  known  members  of  vice 
districts;  in  intelligent  and  ample  adult  probation;  home  for  old  offenders;  appeal  to 
the  chivalry  of  man;  investigation  and  supervision  of  employment  agencies;  laws  call- 
ing centers  of  evil  public  nuisances;  against  allowing  messenger  boys  to  go  into  vice 
districts;  the  state  to  take  the  place  of  parent  to  illegitimate  children;  comfort  sta- 
tions in  the  city;  municipal  dance  halls;  frequent  rotation  of  policemen;  no  liquor 
at  public  dance  halls;  municipal  lodging  houses  for  women;  segregation  of  semi- 
delinquent  girls  from  delinquents  and  intelligent  care  and  education  of  them;  women 
officers  for  the  police  force;  vocational  training  for  the  older  girls  in  public  schools; 
hotels  and  homes  for  working  women  and  girls;  vigilance  in  public  parks  where  girls 
and  women  visit;  and  less  liberty  for  children  except  under  the  eyes  of  their  parents; 
and,  generally,  closer  attention  of  parents  to  the  habits,  acquaintances  and  doings 
of  their  children — girls  and  boys." 

Whilst  these  suggestions  are  very  good  they  will  be  of  little  avail  in  the  long  run 
unless  a  high  standard  of  morality  be  taught  in  the  homes  and  in  the  public  schools.  And 
of  course  they  would  all  be  greatly  strengthened  if  the  best  system  of  religion  were  also 
freely  taught,  and  its  principles  lived  in  the  daily  lives  of  parents  and  educators. 

They  should  teach  a  high  standard  of  morals,  both  publicly  and  privately,  and  they 
should  all  be  taught  in  the  homes,  in  the  schools  and  in  all  public  utterances  the  personal 
responsibility  of  every  individual  to  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  universe  for  every  act 
and  deed;  and  this  alone  can  give  a  high  and  strong  type  of  character  able  to  cope  with 
the  temptations  of  life. 


CHAPTER  V[I 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL  AND  DIVORCE-  HOW  THEY  MANAGE  THESE 

QUESTIONS. 

SECOND:     THE  VENEREAL  DISEASES,  THEIR  CAUSES  AND  PREVENTION. 

The  subject.  Venereal  Diseases,  their  Causes  and  Prevention,  is  one  which  should 
interest  not  only  every  medical  man,  but  every  intelligent  lover  of  his  race,  when  we  see 
how  widely  prevalent  they  are,  the  fearful  havoc  they  work  to  the  health  and  happiness 
of  the  individual  and  the  home,  and  how  much  suffering  they  entail,  and  how  often  death 
itself   follows   in   their   train. 

The  physician's  real  mission  in  the  world  today,  as  never  before,  is  the  prevention 
of  disease.  True,  the  relief  of  suffermg,  the  postponement  of  death,  and  the  cure  of 
disease  are  parts  of  it.     But  our  glory  is  more  in  what  we  are  able  to  prevent  than  cure. 

By  the  term  Venereal  Diseases,  I  wish  to  be  understood  as  meaning  the  three  infec- 
tious diseases  usually  communicated  by  impure  sexual  intercourse,  namely,  gonorrhoea, 
chancroid   and   syphilis. 

The  specific  germ  which  causes  gonorrhoea,  the  gonococcus,  was  discovered  by 
Albert  Neisser  in  I  879.  That  which  is  found  in  chancroid  is  the  bacillus  of  Ducrey,  and 
that  which  is  now  generally  conceded  to  cause  syphilis  is  the  organism  discovered  by 
Schaudinn,  the  Spirochaeta  Pallida.  As  to  the  origin  of  these  specific  germs,  whence 
they  came,  how,  and  where,  no  man  knoweth;  but  that  the  race  has  suffered  since  time 
immemorial  from  some  such  infections  is  well  authenticated  from  all  available  history, 
both  ancient  and  modern. 

Syphilis  appeared  among  the  Europeans,  and  was  discussed  in  medical  literature  at 
the  close  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  was  charged  to  the  contact  of  the  Old  World  with 
the  New,  and  was  called  the  "American  Disease."  It  is  said  too,  that  there  have  been 
discovered  evidences  of  syphilitic  disease  in  the  bones  of  pre-historic  man.  The  literature 
of  the  Chinese,  the  Romans,  the  Greeks  and  the  Hebrews  contain  descriptions  of  a 
disease  hardly  to  be  distinguished  from  and  which  probably  was,  syphilis.  While  at 
present  we  cannot  settle  the  question  of  when,  where  and  how  these  diseases  began; 
that  they  are  now  widespread  and  disastrous  in  their  results,  no  careful  observer  can  deny. 

Cases  like  the  following  are  so  common  that  they  almost  cease  to  cause  surprise 
among  the  specialists,  at  least,  and  even  in  the  country  districts,  the  general  practitioners 
see  them  all  too  frequently. 

Case  I.  Mrs.  J.,  40  years  of  age,  mother  of  two  children,  was  brought  to  me  by  her 
husband  with  history  of  some  female  trouble  and  serious  eye  affection.  On  careful 
private  inquiry  of  the  husband,  I  learned  that  he  had  been  away  from  home  for  a  couple 
of  weeks  and  while  away  had  found  in  a  country  town  one  of  those  women  whom  he 
was  sure  was  perfectly  pure  and  had  no  fear  of  any  infection,  for  she  was  not  a  public 
character.  He  went  home  and  infected  his  wife  before  he  knew  that  what  he  had  caught 
from  this  apparently  pure  woman  was  a  true  gonorrhoea.  Of  course  when  he  found  that 
he  had  the  disease  and  had  inocculated  his  wife,  he  was  ashamed  to  tell  her  what  it  was. 
and  she  ignorantly  suspected  nothing,  and  carelessly  got  some  of  the  discharge  into  her 
eyes,  and  now  one  of  them  was  wholly  destroyed  and  she  was  nearly  blind  in  the  other. 
For  her  eye  trouble  she  was  promptly  turned  over  to  a  specialist,  but  it  was  too  late, 
and  she  will  remain  forever  an  innocent  victim  of  her  husband's  lust  and  unfaithfulness. 
It  is  needless  to  say  that  he  was  almost  brokenhearted  over  his  sin,  but  that  did  not 
relieve  the  suffering  and  blindness  of  his  wife. 

Case  2.  Mrs.  A.,  a  bright  and  charming  young  woman,  of  splendid  family  from  a 
nearby  city,  was  married  to  a  prosperous  young  business  man,  who  was  the  picture  of 
health  and  looked  to  be  a  man  of  honor  and  principle.     Some  four  months  after  marriage 

(117) 


118  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND  OF  EQUITY 

he  brought  her  to  my  office  with  the  history  of  some  Httle  pelvic  trouble  almost  since 
iheir  marriage,  but  now  grown  so  serious  as  to  demand  attention.  Examination  revealed 
a  pelvic  peritonitis  with  both  tubes  filled  with  pus.  Thus  making  her  not  only  a  sufferer, 
but  probably  an  invalid  for  life  with  very  little  hope  of  ever  enjoying  the  privilege  of 
motherhood,  or  being  the  comfort  and  blessing  to  a  home  which  her  beautiful  form, 
charming  manners  and  dignified  womanly  bearing  would  otherwise  have  made  her. 

A  little  private  talk  with  her  husband  brought  out  the  fact  that  he  had  once  suffered 
from  gonorrhoea  and  supposed  he  had  been  cured.  His  grief  and  anguish  at  having 
unwittingly  brought  his  beautiful  young  wife  into  this  deplorable  condition  was  pitiful 
to  see,  but  of  what  avail? 

Case  3.  Mrs.  B.,  was  to  be  confined  with  her  first  baby  and  I  was  asked  to  attend  her. 
She  and  her  husband  were  greatly  delighted  at  the  prospect  of  a  young  heir,  probably  a 
boy,  to  perpetuate  the  father's  name,  and  so  all  things  were  arranged  and  in  readiness 
to  receive  the  welcome  and  expected  newcomer.  After  a  somewhat  tedious  and  severe 
labor  in  which  the  mother  (as  they  so  often  do)  went  down  almost  to  the  very  jaws  of  death 
for  the  sake  of  her  beloved  husband  and  the  little  child,  she  was  delivered  of  a  poor, 
scrawny,  shriveled,  wheezing,  little  boy,  who  from  very  lack  of  vitality  only  lived  a  short 
time,  and  thus  the  hour  of  relief  and  of  joy  with  expectation  was  turned  into  one  of  pain 
and  sorrow,  with  hopeless  disappointment.  A  private  conversation  with  the  husband  and 
father  revealed  the  fact  that  when  a  young  man  he  had  suffered  from  syphilis,  and  so  had 
transmitted  to  his  helpless  child  the  killing  disease,  and  had  robbed  his  wife  of  the  satis- 
faction of  motherhood. 

Case  4.  Mrs.  A.,  mother  of  one  child,  and  a  widow,  hard-working,  honest  and 
respectable,  earned  her  living  for  herself  and  child  by  working  in  a  place  where  many 
other  women  and  men  were  employed;  but  one  day  she  developed  a  sore  in  the  very 
center  of  her  lower  lip,  which  proved  to  be  a  true  chancre,  amenable  only  to  the  mercurial 
treatment,  the  Wasserman  reaction  being  positive.  See  the  hardship  now  brought  upon 
this  woman,  and  the  danger  she  is  to  others.  Imagine  if  you  can  how  many  men  and 
women  are  going  about  in  public  places,  hotels,  restaurants,  railway  trains  and  elsewhere, 
with  seriously  infective  sores,  generally  not  so  plain  or  discernable,  and  for  that  very  rea- 
son all  the  more  dangerous  to  the  innocent  public. 

Dr.  Prince  A.  Morrow,  says:  "Gonorrhoea,  is  perhaps,  the  most  universal  and  wide- 
spread of  all  diseases  that  affect  the  human  race.  Competent  authorities  have  computed 
that  fully  three-fourths  of  the  adult  male  population,  and  one-sixth  to  one-third  of  the 
adult  female  population  have  contracted  this  disorder. 

"It  is  estimated  that  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent  of  all  blindness  is  caused  by 
gonococcic  infection  *  *  *.  Neisser  believes  that  gonorrhoea  in  the  male  is  responsible 
for  forty-five  per  cent  of  sterile  marriages. 

The  proportion  of  sterility  due  to  the  husband  is  variously  estimated  from  seventeen 
to  twenty-five  per  cent,  and  almost  the  entire  proportion  of  sterility  in  the  woman  is  due 
to  gonorrhoea  communicated  to  her  by  her  husband.  *  *  *  Gonorrhoea  is  now  re- 
garded by  the  medical  profession  as  one  of  the  most  formidable  social  plagues  of  the  age." 

The  United  States  census  for  1  890,  showed  the  number  of  those  in  our  country  who 
were  blind  in  one  or  both  eyes  to  be  144,399,  and  20  per  cent  of  this  number  would  be 
28,879. 

In  a  paper  read  before  the  National  Conference  of  Corrections  and  Charities  in 
1910,  by  Dr.  Alice  Hamilton  of  Chicago,  upon  the  subject  "Venereal  Diseases  in  Institu- 
tions for  Women  and  Girls,"  she  says: 

"We  have  begun  lately  to  learn  how  very  widely  prevalent  gonorrhoea  is,  both 
among  little  girls  and  among  married  women.  The  time  before  puberty  is  the  time 
of  greatest  susceptibility,  and  an  institutional  epidemic  usually  selects  almost  all  its 
victims  from  among  little  girls  under  thirteen  years  of  age.  '^     '^     '^, 

"In  an  epidemic  of  gonorrhoea  in  the  Cook  County  Contagious  hospital, 
involving  eighty-two  little  girls,  it  was  found  that  the  infection  had  been  brought  in 
by  sixteen  little  school  girls  from  various  parts  of  the  city. 

"In  the  Babies'  hospital  in  New  York  City,  where  no  children  over  three  years 
are  admitted,  about  six  cases  out  of  each  one  hundred  twenty-five  applicants  for  ad- 
mission are  found  to  have  gonorrhoea.     Dr.  Reed  examined  one  hundred  little  girls 


PREVALENCE  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES  119 

in  an  institution  in  New  York,  which  supposedly  had  never  had  a  case,  and  found  that 
twelve  had  gonorrhoea  vaginitis,  and  twenty  more  were  suspicious  cases. 

"Among  the  delinquent  girls,  who  pass  through  our  Juvenile  Court  in  Chicago, 
18  per  cent  are  found  to  have  gonorrhoea  at  the  time  of  examination. 

"Dr.  Morrow,  physician  to  the  Illinois  State  School  for  Girls,  at  Geneva,  reports 
that  58  per  cent  of  200  consecutive  admissions  had  gonorrhoea,  and  such  victims 
of  gonorrhoea  usually  have  been  infected  by  their  mothers.  Other  members  of  the 
family  are  responsible  for  a  small  number  of  cases,  and  sexual  violence  for  only  an 
insignificant   minority. 

"It  is  impossible  to  give  any  statistics  as  to  the  prevalence  of  syphilis  in  institu- 
tions in  this  country.  German  statistics  show  that  practically  all  prostitutes,  who 
have  followed  their  trade  as  long  as  three  years  are  shown  by  this  test  (Wasserman  or 
Noguchi  reaction)  to  be  syphilitic.  This  test  was  made  on  the  blood  of  one  hundred 
girls  in  the  Geneva  Institution  by  Dr.  W.  Post,  of  Chicago,  and  forty-six  gave  a 
positive  result.  The  value  of  such  a  test  can  be  seen  from  the  report  of  the  first 
fifteen  girls  examined.  Only  one  of  them  had  been  known  to  be  syphilitic,  and  she 
had  received  vigorous  treatment  for  a  long  period.  Her  blood  gave  a  negative  re- 
action, but  nine  of  the  others  who  had  not  been  treated  showed  the  presence  of 
syphilis." 

Colonel  Maus,  Chief  Surgeon  United  States  Army,  Department  of  Lakes,  says: 

"It  is  generally  conceded  by  medical  officers  that  there  is  no  one  factor  or  con- 
dition in  the  army  which  produces  more  sickness,  decreases  the  efficiency  of  the 
men  so  greatly,  or  affects  their  morals  more  than  disease  of  venereal  origin.  In 
this  regard  the  demoralizing  influences  of  alcoholism  and  desertion  compare  but 
feebly  with  the  direful  and  far-reaching  results  of  diseases  of  this  character,  and 
there  is  no  military  problem  which  confronts  the  War  Department,  which  is  more 
worthy  of  discussion  and  requires  more  prompt  or  energetic  action." 

Dr.  E.  W.  Feigenbaum  in  a  recent  article  says: 

"The  census  of  1900,  elicited  the  fact  that  there  were  in  the  United  States. 
65,000  blind  persons,  fully  33  per  cent  of  whom  became  blind  when  less  than  a  year 
old.  We  know  that  ophthalmia  neonatorum  is  the  fruitful  source  of  infantile  blind- 
ness, and  that  its  frequent  origin  is  the  virus  of  gonorrhoea  implanted  at  the  very 
moment  of  birth.  Just  think  of  this  vast  army  of  over  20,000  innocent  children, 
doomed  to  a  life  of  eternal  darkness,  all  on  account  of  an  infamous  disease,  be- 
queathed to  them  by  heartless  parents. 

"We  are  justly  proud  of  our  public  school  system,  that  great  bulwark  of 
American  liberty,  and  yet  has  it  ever  occurred  to  you  that  our  children  are  daily 
exposed  to  this  disease,  while  in  attendance  at  school?  Dr.  Ira  C.  Wile,  of  New 
York,  in  a  paper  published  in  the  New  York  Medical  Journal,  September  10,  1910, 
gives  a  most  horrible  picture  of  conditions  as  they  exist  in  our  public  schools,  and 
calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  most  strenuous  measures  ought  to  be  taken  to  prevent 
the  spread  of  venereal  diseases  among  our  school  children.  He  says,  that  20  per 
cent  of  all  venereal  diseases  are  acquired  before  the  twenty-first  birthday,  and  that 
syphilis  and  gonorrhoea,  generally  accidentally  acquired,  are  not  infrequent  in 
children  between  the  ages  of  four  and  sixteen  years.  The  various  methods  of 
acquiring  these  diseases,  accidentally  and  innocently,  are  summed  by  Wile  as:  by 
fondling,  kissing,  using  infected  glasses  and  infected  eating  utensils,  from  the  use  of 
common  towels,  pencils,  sponges,  etc.  Occasionally  there  is  more  direct  contact,  as 
by  exchanging  chewing  gum,  inter-change  of  mouth  toys  and  sexual  contact. 

"Conditions  are  getting  no  better  very  fast.  Dr.  Wile,  quoting  from  Dr.  Morrow, 
states  that  it  is  a  conservative  estimate  that  in  this  country  the  morbidity  of  gonor- 
rhoea would  represent  60  per  cent  of  the  male  population,  and  that  of  syphilis  10 
to  15  per  cent.  In  other  words  three  out  of  every  four  men  you  see  walking  on 
the  streets  are  victims  of  the  great  black  plague.  Dr.  Morrow  makes  the  statement 
that  in  France  20,000  children  die  of  syphilis  each  year." 
Dr.  Frederic  Bierhoff ,  of  New  York,  says : 

"A  perusual  of  the  reports  of  our  surgeons-general  of  the  army  and  the  navy  of 
the  United  States,  for  several  years  past,  reveals  the  reiteration,  year  for  year,  of 


120  KQUITAXIA.   OR   TIIP:    I.AXD   OF   EQUITY 

the  fact  that  the  venereal  diseases  cause  a  greater  loss  of  efficiency  among  our  forces 
than  does  any  other  class  of  diseases. 

"I  believe,  therefore,  that  Morrow's  statement  that  200,000  persons,  in  this  city, 
are  constantly  suffering  with  venereal  diseases,  is  rather  under  estimated  than  over 
estimated. 

"All  that  we  can  say  is  that  the  prevalence  of  venereal  diseases,  among  the 
population,  is  a  very  grave  and  growing  menace  to  the  community. 

"With  regard  to  the  second  question,  it  may  be  stated  that  paragraph  79,  is 
based  upon  the  supposition  that  the  common  prostitute  is  the  most  important 
disseminator  of  venereal  infections.     But  is  she? 

"In  the  protest  against  the  above  paragraph  issued  by  various  organizations 
of  females,  our  worthy  president.  Dr.  Morrow,  is  quoted  as  saying:  'It  is  a  great 
mistake  to  suppose  that  the  prostitute  is  the  chief  agent  in  the  spread  of  venereal 
diseases,  etc.,  etc'  " 

In  the  California  State  Journal  of  Medicine,  occurs  a  review  of  Dr.  Vecki's  book  on 
"Prevention  of  Sexual  Diseases,"  in  which  occur  the  following  important  words:  "The 
menace  of  the  increase  and  spread  of  venereal  diseases  to  the  welfare  of  the  community 
has  in  recent  years  been  the  subjct  of  considrable  attention.  All  who  have  made  a  study 
of  the  sociological  aspects  of  the  question  agree  that  existing  conditions  demand  radical 
measures,  with  a  view  to  immediate  amelioration,  if  not  eradication  of  this  appalling 
social  evil. 

"Since  the  appearance  of  syphilis  in  Europe  more  than  five  centuries  ago,  various 
measures  have  been  tried  for  its  limitation.  The  prostitute  has  been  burned,  and  her 
profession  has  been  officially  recognized  and  officially  regulated.  The  religionist,  the 
moralist  and  the  medical  man  have  made  excursions  to  this  rough  country,  where  nature 
has  been  challenged,  but  still  remains  unchanged.  The  result  in  all  instances  has  been 
failure." 

The  report  of  the  Surgeon  General  of  the  United  States  Army  to  the  Secretary  of 
War  contains  the  following: 

"The  slight  diminution  in  the  occurrence  of  venereal  diseases  last  year  gave 
hope  that  the  campaign  of  education  on  this  subject,  which  had  been  begun  through 
the  medical  officers,  was  beginning  to  bear  fruit.  But  1909  unfortunately  shows  an 
increase  not  only  over  the  preceding  year,  but  over  any  other  year  of  which  there 
is  record.  It  is,  if  one  may  accept  the  opinion  of  high  medical  authorities,  exceeded 
by  the  prevalence  of  thes  diseases  in  civil  life,  and  it  will  be  very  difficult  to  make 
any  substantial  improvement  in  the  record  of  the  army  in  this  respect,  until  the 
state  and  municipal  authorities  are  aroused  to  the  necessity  of  taking  serious  sani- 
tary measures  to  restrict  their  ravages.  The  venereal  peril  has  come  to  outweigh 
in  importance  any  other  sanitary  question,  which  now  confronts  the  army,  and 
neither  our  national  optimism  nor  the  Anglo  Saxon  disposition  to  ignore  a  subject 
which  is  offensive  to  public  prudery  can  longer  excuse  a  frank  and  honest  confron- 
tation of  the  problem.  Reports  since  the  Spanish-American  war  show  a  steady 
progresisve  increase  in  this  class  of  diseases. 

"In  speaking  of  the  causes  for  rejection  of  young  men,  who  make  application 
for  enlistment  in  the  army  he  says,  "Venereal  diseases  cause  the  largest  proportion 
of  rejections." 

While  the  bacterial  causes  of  venereal  diseases  are  as  above  shown,  yet  practically 
it  IS  perhaps  more  important  for  us  to'  know  that  back  of  all  this  is  unclean  and 
promiscuous  sexual  intercourse,  which  in  ways  we  do  not  understand  yet,  is  doubtless  the 
primary  or   fundamental  cause, 

I  presume  we  would  all  agree  that  if  we  knew  perfectly  the  laws  of  health 
and  how  to  apply  them,  and  then  had  the  environment  and  ability  with  the  means,  and 
should  actually  apply  them,  we  would  be  in  constant  good  health.  In  fact  all  sickness  and 
disease  must,  we  think,  be  the  result  of  ignorance,  inability  or  unwillingness  to  apply  the 
proper  preventive  measures. 

The  great  philosopher,  Herbert  Spencer,  had  some  such  idea,  when  he  said: 

"Perfect  correspondence  would  be  perfect  life.  Were  there  no  changes  in  the 
environment,  but  such  as  the  organism  had  adopted  changes  to  meet,  and  were  it 


THE  POWER  OF  HEREDITY  121 

never  to  fail  in  the  efficiency  with  which  it  met  them,  there  would  be  eternal  existence 
and  eternal  knowledge." 

And  Dr.  William  Hammond  told  us  something  of  this  truth  when  he  said,  "People  die 
through  their  ignorance  of  the  laws  which  govern  their  existence,  and  also  from  their 
inability  or  indisposition  to  obey  those  laws  with  which  they  are  acquainted." 

So  I  may  say,  health  means  the  harmonious  working  of  all  organs  and  tissues  of  the 
body  in  obedience  to  their  natural  laws;  and  disease  then  must  be  discord  somewhere 
along  the  line  from  disobedience  to  those  laws.  It  is  the  special  province  of  medicine  in 
the  mterests  of  the  race  to  search  out  and  set  in  order  the  laws  of  health,  to  discover 
and  put  mto  practice  the  proper  means  to  correct  the  disorders  which  arise  from  these 
violations  of  nature's  laws.  And  so  medicine  has  for  its  chief  object  the  overcoming  of 
these  difficulties,  oir  teaching  the  people  (as  fast  as  we  ourselves  ascertain  them)  the 
facts,  how  to  conform  to  nature's  laws  in  order  to  ward  off  disease  or  regain  health. 
Hence  it  follows  that  if  we  can  ascertain  the  laws  of  sexual  health,  and  how  to  apply 
them,  we  must  be  on  the  right  road  to  the  successful  prevention  of  "The  Venereal  Dis- 
eases," which  are  but  manifestations  of  nature's  punishment  for  violation  of  her  laws. 

Charles  Darwin,  speaking  of  the  strong  influence  of  heredity,  says:  "No  breeder 
doubts  how  strong  is  the  tendency  to  inheritance;  that  like  produces  like  is  his  fundamen- 
tal belief;  doubts  have  been  thrown  on  this  principle  only  by  theoretical  writers.  Per- 
haps the  correct  way  of  viewing  the  whole  subject  would  be  to  look  at  the  inheritance 
of  every  character  as  the  rule  and  non-inheritance  as  the  anomaly.  To  sum  up  on  the 
origin  of  our  domestic  races  of  animals  and  plants;  changed  conditions  of  life  are  of  the 
highest  importance  in  causing  variability,  both  by  acting  directly  on  the  organization  and 
indirectly  by  affecting  the  reproductive  system.  Some,  perhaps  a  great,  effect  may  be 
attributed  to  the  increased  use  or  disuse  of  parts.  From  the  facts  alluded  to  in  the 
first  chapter,  I  think  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  use  in  our  domestic  animals  has 
strengthened  and  enlarged  certain  parts  and  disuse  diminished  them;  and  that  such 
modifications  are  inherited." 

That  morals  and  religion,  as  well  as  intellect  and  health,  have  a  definite  physical 
basis,  is  now  generally  recognized.  The  well  known  case  of  Margaret  Dugdale,  the 
mother  of  criminals,  need  only  be  cited  to  show  how  strong  was  the  evil  tendency  and 
how  certainly  transmitted  to  her  children.  As  additional  proof  of  the  belief  in  the  Irans- 
missibility  of  criminal  and  other  defective  physical  tendencies,  note  the  preamble  to 
the  Indiana  law  against  procreation  in  certain  cases,  for  it  says:  "Whereas  heredity  plays 
a  most  imoprtant  part  in  the  transmission  of  crime,  idiocy,  and  imbecility,  therefore,  etc." 
Also  that  passed  in  Ontario,  Canada.  "Whereas,  heredity  plays  a  most  important  part  in 
the   transmission  of  criminal  instincts;    therefore,  etc.  ' 

Thus  the  stale  and  the  more  enlightened  part  of  the  community  comes  clearly  to 
recognize  the  importance  of  heredity  in  morals,  as  it  has  Ion:?  known  the  evil  effects 
resulting  from  transmitting  physical  weakness  and  defects.  Let  parents  have  sound  minds, 
in  sound  bodies,  coupled  with  sound  morals;  and  they  will  transmit  to  their  offspring  the 
same  qualities  of  body,  mind  and  soul  only  modified  by  the  one  factor,  over  which  they 
do  not  have  absolute  control,  that  is,  the  streak  which  every  child  inherits  in  greater  or 
less  degree  from  a  more  remote  ancestor  than  its  immediate  parents. 

Parents  should  be  taught  the  truth  about  the  sexual  system  and  the  influence  of 
heredity  and  vicious  livin?  upon  the  offspring. 

The  moral  wrong,  adultery;  the  social  injustice,  inequality;  the  econonomic  cruelty, 
poverty;  and  the  physical  suffering,  disease,  which  abounds  among  us,  are  not  due 
to  a  man  having  one  wife  or  many;  but  much  of  it  is  due  to  the  abuse  of  that  one  wife 
and  the  many  mistresses  clandestinely  belonging  to  single  as  well  as  married  men.  to  the 
failure  of  men  to  assume  the  duties  and  discharge  the  obligations  which  belong  to  marriage, 
and  which  naturally  do  and  ought  to  arise  out  of  cohabitation  between  men  and  women. 
The  true  and  actual  relation  between  the  sexes  kept  under  cover,  hidden  behind  the 
darkness  of  mystery,  under  the  pretense  of  modesty,  and  covered  up  by  the  baneful 
allurements  of  sweet  innocence  and  blissful  ignorance,  while  flaunting  before  the  public 
false,  unreal  and  hypocritical  conditions,  have  brought  about  the  cesspool  of  sexual 
vices  and  diseases  whose  very  stench  rises  to  heaven  in  spite  of  the  futile  covering  some 
would  apply  (that  is,  ignore  it),  but  which  needs  to  have  the  cover  taken  off  and  be  so 


122  KQUITANIA,   OK   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

stirred  up  as  to  allow  the  antiseptic  light  of  knowledge,  reason,  common  sense  and  true 

religion  to  shine  in  until  all  the  causative  microbes  are  destroyed  and  society  is  purified 

to  its  fountain  head. 

I  believe  it  is  generally  conceded  that  the  famous  Moravian  Comenius  was  the  founder 

of  modern  education,  and  it  is  said  of  him;  'He  relates  virtue  and  Godliness  to  knovvled-^e. 

By  knowledge  Comenius  meant  knowledge  of  nature  and  of  man's  relation  to  nature.     He 

said: 

"In  education,  while  our  main  business  is  to  promote  the  growth  of  moral  pur- 
pose and  of  a  strong  sense  of  duty,  we  have  to  support  these  by  the  discipline  of 
intelligence,  and  by  training  to  power  and  work,  rather  than  by  information." 

And  the  Swiss  educator,  Pestalozzi,  who  followed  in  the  wake  of  Comenius,  and 
was  only  second  to  him,  perhaps,  in  the  principles  enunciated  relative  to  proper  methods 
of  education,  said:  "The  amelioration  of  outward  circumstances  will  be  the  effect  and 
can  never  be  the  means  of  mental  and  moral  improvement."  And  our  own  Ralph  Waldo 
Emerson  said:  "We  shall  one  day  learn  to  supersede  politics  by  education.  What  we 
call  our  root  and  branch  reforms  of  slavery,  war,  gambling,  intemperance  is  only  medi- 
cating the  symptoms.  We  must  begin  higher  up,  namely,  in  education.  Society  can 
never  prosper,  but  must  always  be  bankrupt  until  every  man  does  that  which  he  was 
created  to  do." 

Relative  to  the  importance  of  educating  and  strengthening  moral  character,  as  well 
as  teaching  the  importance  of  the  will  power.     Emerson  wisely  says: 

"So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust. 
So  near  is  God  to  man. 
When  duty  whispers  low,  thou  must. 
The  youth  replies,  I  can." 

No  less  distinguished  an  educator  than  ex-President  Eliot  says,  among  other  things: 
"Children  should  be  made  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  principle  before 
any  sex  emotion  begins  to  stir  in  them.  Does  any  one  protest  that  this  educational 
process  will  abolish  innocence  in  young  manhood  and  womanhood  and  make  matter 
of  common  talk  the  tenderest  and  most  intimate  concerns  in  human  life,  let  him 
consider  that  virtue,  not  innocence,  is  manifestly  God's  object  and  end  for  humanity 
and  that  the  only  alternative  for  education  in  sex  hygiene  is  the  prolongation  of  the 
present  awful  wrongs  and  woes  in  the  very  vitals  of  civilization.  " 

1 .  Teach  the  boys  and  the  girls  the  truth  about  the  sexual  sysetem,  its  proper  uses 
and  the  evil  effects,  moral  and  physical,  of  its  abuse.  This  can  be  done  in  the  public 
schools  at  public  expense  best. 

2.  Teach  the  children,  even  in  the  home,  the  truth  about  these  things;  let  the  child 
know,  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  inquire  where  the  newborn  baby  came  from.  Let  the  child 
get  the  truthful  information  from  its  parents,  rather  than  a  falsehood,  which  it  must 
correct  clandestinely,  from  its  playmates. 

Be  frank,  open,  sincere  and  clean  in  thought  and  mind  with  your  child  and  let  no 
false  pride  nor  prudish  sentiment  lead  you  and  your  child  into  gross  error. 

There  is  nothing  impure  nor  unclean  about  a  normal  sexual  system  and  its  proper 
use  and  legitimate  product.  "To  him  that  esteemeth  anything  to  be  unclean,  to  him  it 
is  unclean." 

3.  Whatever  tends  to  produce  impure  thoughts  and  thus  lead  to  unclean  desires 
should  be  eliminated  from  the  reading  and  sight  of  the  youth.  If  pictures,  stories, 
theaters,  dances  or  the  drink  habit,  tobacco  habit  and  so  forth  are  essentially  degrading 
and  lead  to  evil  thoughts  they  may  conscientiously  be  tabooed  as  well  as  whatever  else, 
now  or  later  in  one's  life,  is  found  to  be  productive  of  this  fruitage.  Impart  the  real 
knowledge  of  actual  facts  to  the  child  according  to  his  age  and  ability  to  comprehend  them, 
then  he  shall  "know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall  make  him  free." 

4.  Improve  the  tenement  houses  and  the  environment  of  the  boys  and  girls  in  these 
poor  districts,  for  these  very  conditions  of  over-crowding,  unsanitary  homes,  break  down 
or  prevent  the  raising  of  these  natural  barriers  which  should  obtain  between  the  sexes 
while  in  the  early  stages  of  development. 

5.  Improve  the  economic  conditions  so  that  young  men  may  by  reasonable  diligence. 


PREVENTION  OF  VENEREAL  DISEASES  12:i 

in  the  ordinary  employments  of  life,  get  a  sufficient  wage  that  they  can  decently  support 
themselves  and  when  old  enough  (preferably  about  25  years  of  age)  support  a  wife, 
and  the  children  which  may  come  to  them. 

On  this  point  the  Surgeon  General's  report  is  quite  conclusive,  for  while  among  all 
the  troops  of  the  Philippines  the  first. of  all  causes  for  hospital  admissions  was  venereal 
diseases,  yet  he  says:  "Among  the  Filipino  troops  it  occupied  the  sixth  place  only,  this 
marked  difference  doubtless  being  the  result  of  the  fact  that  a  majority  of  the  native 
soldiers  are  married." 

6.  Improve  the  economic  conditions  so  that  fewer  girls  and  women  shall  be  driven 
or  allowed  to  earn  thir  living  in  competition  with  men.  It  is  a  social  wrong  and  an 
economic  mistake  to  have  them  compete  with  men  in  any  of  the  ordinary  vocations  of 
life. 

7.  Improve  the  economic  conditions  so  that  in  whatever  vocations  girls  and  women 
are  required  to  work  they  may  be  paid  living  wages,  and  thus  be  rightfully  independent 
of  any  pretended  lover's  favors  or  any  young  man's  pecuniary  aid. 

In  conclusion  let  me  say,  proper  education  in  the  laws  of  health,  science  and  the 
sacred  Scriptures,  with  obedience  to  the  same,  is  the  only  possible  perfect  preventive 
measure. 

Knowledge  is  power,  therefore  let  the  parents  and  the  children  know  the  truth  about 
themselves  and  come  into  harmony  with  and  hence  obedience  to  nature's  laws,  and  they 
will  remain  well. 

I  grant  you  this  cannot  be  done  in  a  day,  but  it  is  always  better  in  the  end  to  teach 
the  truth  for  the  ultimate  result  will  be  the  best  and  attained  soonest;  for  we  may  safely 
say  with  Descartes:  "It  is  not  so  essential  to  have  a  fine  understanding  as  to  apply  it 
rightly.  Those  who  walk  slowly  will  make  greater  progress  if  they  follow  the  right  road 
than  those  who  run  swiftly  on  a  wrong  one."  And  Bacon  put  the  same  truth  more 
tersely  when  he  said:  "A  cripple  on  the  right  path  will  beat  a  racer  on  the  wrong  one." 
Let  us  begin  right  and  travel  along  the  right  road  and  build  with  the  right  material  and 
we  shall  have  a  stronger,  better,  higher  type  of  man,  even  though  it  comes  a  little  later. 

In  discussing  this  question  I  have  endeavored  to  show: 

1st.  What  these  diseases  are,  what  their  specific  and  remote  causes. 

2nd.  How  widespread,  how  serious  and  how  destructive  to  the  peace  and  hap- 
piness of  the  individual  and  the  state. 

3rd.  The  pressing  and  growing  need  for  some  effective  preventive  measures. 

4th.  The  vain  and  futile  efforts  hitherto  put  forth  and  the  reason  for  their 
failure. 

5th.  The  object  and  functions  of  the  sexual  system,  together  with  the  laws 
which  should  naturally  govern  it. 

6th.  The  influence  of  heredity  and  the  disastrous  results  upon  the  offspring  of 
vicious  habits  in  one  or  both  parents. 

7th.  The  best  method  of  developing  a  humanity  which  by  intelligent  self- 
control  and  self-mastery  v/ill  live  in  obedience  to  those  laws  and  therefore  be  free 
from  those  blighting  diseases. 

One  has  said: 

"How  happy  is  he  born  and  taught. 
That  serveth  not  another's  will. 
Whose  armor  is  his  honest  thought 

And  sim.ple   truth   his  utmost  skill. 
Whose  passions  not  his  masters  are. 

Whose  soul  is  still  prepared  for  death. 
Not  tied  unto  the  world  with  care. 
Of  public  fame  or  private  breath." 

And  another  has  told  us  what  true  greatness  is  as  follows: 
"Were  I  so  tall   to  reach   the  pole. 
Or  grasp  the  ocean  with  my  span. 
I  must  be  measured  by  my  soul; 

The  mind's  the  standard  of  the  man." 


IJ4  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

THIRD:     HOW  TO  PREVENT  THE  DISEASES  PECULIAR  TO  WOMEN. 

Just  as  in  the  social  and  economic  world  today  the  great  question  is^  "How  can  we 
prevent  crime  and  poverty?"  rather  than  how  can  we  remedy  the  evils  where  they  are 
found,  so  in  the  medical  world  we  are  studying  and  thinking  more  along  the  lines  of 
preventing  disease  than  we  are  of  curing  it.  There  has  never  been  a  time  when  the 
profession  was  so  unitedly  working  to  find  ways  and  means  of  keeping  the  community 
and  the  individual  well  and  free  from  disease  as  today.  We  do  well  to  honor  the  memory 
of  Pasteur  and  his  followers  who  have  taught  us  to  cure  disease  by  the  use  of  sera,  but  we 
do  still  better  to  honor  the  names  of  men  like  Jenner,  who  taught  us  how  to  prevent 
small-pox  by  means  of  vaccination.  And  it  is  the  glory  of  our  profession  that  not  only 
are  we  striving  more  and  more  to  prevent  disease,  but  that  we  are  actually  doing  so  in 
a  marked  and  increasing  degree  from  year  to  year. 

When  we  come  to  gynecology,  that  branch  of  medical  science  which  treats  of  the 
malformations,  injuries,  and  diseases  peculiar  to  the  female  sex  of  the  human  race,  we 
are  confronted  with  a  large  problem  not  only  because  more  than  half  the  race  are 
females,  and  because  of  the  greater  relative  importance  of  this  sex  in  the  development  and 
progress  of  the  race;  but  because  of  the  many  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject  and  the 
large  possibilities  in  their  prevention.  And  in  so  doing  we  may  well  take  the  advice  of  our 
Oliver  Windell  Holmes,  when  he  said:  "Begin  the  training  of  children  a  hundred  years 
before  they  are  born,"  or  as  the  Irishman  might  put  it,  "Let  children  choose  a  better 
ancestry." 

While  the  criminologists  and  sociologists  aire  teaching  that  criminals  and  degenerates 
should  not  be  allowed  to  propagate  their  kind,  but  should  be  deprived  of  the  power  of 
procreation  by  vasectomy  or  tubal  resection,  we  as  physicians  can  very  well  join  them  in 
teaching  that  the  epileptic,  the  inebriate,  the  drug-user,  the  insane,  the  tubercular,  and  the 
cancerous  should  not  bear  children,  for  whilst  these  diseased  conditions  are  not  directly 
transmissible  from  parent  to  child,  nevertheless,  they  do  give  to  the  child  a  physical 
organism  peculiarly  susceptible  to  disease  and  below  par.  They  are  at  least  less  able 
to  resist  disease,  and  because  of  these  physical  weaknesses  are  prone  to  various  ailments  to 
which  a  normal  person  is  not  so  subject.  In  other  words,  such  parents  do  not  give  their 
offspring  a  fair  chance,  a  normal  physical  organism,  and  therefore  a  "Square  deal."  In 
short,  they  start  them  out  in  life  with  a  handicap  which  no  rational  parent  would  willingly 
do. 

The  primary  right  of  every  child  is  to  be  well  born  and  have  a  good  parentage. 

If  we  are  ever  to  accomplish  much  m  the  prevention  of  female  diseases,  we  must 
begin  in  a  fundamental  way  by  teaching  girls  and  women  early  the  truth  about  themselves, 
their  physical  make-up,  their  peculiar  anatomical  and  physiological  organization,  their 
special  function  in  human  society,  together  with  the  evils  and  abuses  which  necessarily 
follow  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  their  being.  So  that  as  fast  as  we  learn  the  scientific 
truth  about  these  matters  we  should  teach  it  to  the  laity  and  to  the  women  and  girls  at  the 
earliest  opportunity  and  at  the  most  practical  time  of  life. 

And  whilst  this  is  by  no  means  the  strongest  and  most  forcible  argument  against 
woman's  suffrage,  yet  it  is  by  no  means  an  impotent  one,  and  is  one  which  should  not  be 
forgotten,  namely:  that  women  cannot  perform  the  functions  belonging  to  men  in  the 
affairs  of  state  and  society  and  at  the  same  time  perform  their  own  peculiar  function  of 
motherhood,  wife,  and  home-maker  in  a  creditable  and  worthy  manner.  As  women,  they 
must  do  one  or  the  other,  they  cannot  in  the  nature  of  things  do  both;  and  nature  herself 
seems  to  have  set  bounds  over  which  they  may  not  pass.  I  am  now  speaking  wholly  in 
reference  to  their  physical  well-being  and  the  health  of  their  bodies.  How  much  of  the 
menstrual  troubles  of  girls  and  young  women  come  from  evident  sources  which  are 
easily  corrected?  Ignorance  of  puberty,  lack  of  rest,  care  and  protection  during  the 
menstrual  periods,  over-study,  lack  of  outdoor  life  and  reasonable  exercise  during  the 
period  of  development,  all  of  which  might  be  overcome,  corrected  or  prevented,  by  proper 
teaching  in  the  home  and  in  the  public  schools.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say,  also,  that 
many  of  the  nervous  disorders  of  women  have  their  origin  in  this  faulty  education  and 
lack  of  perfectly  evident  knowledge  which  might  be,  and  rightly  ought  to  be  given  these 
girls,  and  to  the  lack  of  a  physical  development  of  which  they  are  perfectly  capable  and 
to  which  they  are  entitled. 


PREVEXTION  OF  DISEASE  125 

1  am  not  now  saying  whether  or  not  the  girls  should  be  given  the  so-called  higher 
education,  or  whether  they  should  be  taught  music,  and  dancing  and  painting;  or  whether 
they  should  be  allowed  to  enter  the  business  world  and  compete  with  men  in  the  various 
callings  in  life;  but  I  am  insisting  that  they  should  not  be  permitted  as  a  class  or  as 
individuals  to  indulge  in  any  of  these  things  to  their  physical  injury  and  the  detriment  of 
their  health.  Parents  have  no  right  to  injure  the  bodies  of  their  girls  by  sending  them  io 
school  too  early  and  crowding  them  too  fast  in  their  studies,  nor  by  making  them  work  too 
long  and  hard  either  at  home  or  outside  the  home,  even  for  material  gain.  These  young 
girls  should  not  be  required  to  assume  the  support,  partial  or  entire,  of  the  family,  as 
they  are  loo  often  required  to  do.  The  physical  welfare  of  the  future  generations  is  too 
important,  to  say  nothing  of  their  own,  and  their  immediate  descendants'  interests,  to 
permit  such  abuse  by  an  intelligent  and  enlightened  medical  profession  which  should 
■guide  the  health  policy  of  the  state. 

Again  the  pregnant  and  nursing  woman  too  often  in  the  home,  the  shop,  the  factory, 
store,  or  on  the  farm,  is  allowed  or  required  to  work  beyond  her  strength;  and  the 
child  is  doomed  to  suffer  in  its  physical  make-up,  as  well  as  the  mother,  from  this  undue 
physical  strain  at  such  a  time.  So  that  it  is  no  idle  dream  nor  unscientific  suggestion 
which  is  made  by  those  who  claim  the  state  should  see  that  every  pregnant  woman  and 
every  nursing  mother  should  have  adequate  rest  during  the  late  months  of  pregnancy  and 
the  early  months  of  her  nursing  period.  It  has  been  wisely  proposed  that  whenever 
necessary  such  women  should  even  be  paid  a  reasonable  monthly  salary  during  this 
important  period,  namely,  the  last  three  months  of  pregnancy  and  first  four  months  after 
delivery. 

The  importance  to  the  mother  of  nursing  her  child  is  so  great  that  even  if  it  were 
not  so  needful  to  the  child  as  it  really  is,  we  should  demand  her  doing  so  on  her  own 
behalf.  It  is  well  known  that  the  child  at  the  breast  helps  to  produce  uterine  contraction, 
which  is  a  strong  and  beneficial  factor  in  causing  a  normal  uterine  involution  and  prevents 
a  subinvoluted  uterus  with  all  its  train  of  attendant  evils. 

It  would  appear  from  the  most  recent  statistics  that  uterine  cancer  is  on  the  increase 
and  that  we  not  only  have  thus  far  failed  to  get  at  the  cause  of  this  terrible  malady  and 
have  been  utterly  unable  to  cure  it  when  once  well  established,  but  we  have  not  done 
quite  as  much  as  we  ought  to  prevent  its  occurence,  for  the  damage  done  to  the  cervix 
by  childbirth  has  not  caused  us  to  insist  upon  proper  repair  as  uniformly  as  we  ought. 
Theilhaber  and  Edelberg  have  shown  in  307  cases  of  cancer  of  the  uterus  that  only  2.9 
per  cent  of  cancer  of  the  cervix  occuried  in  nulliparae,  while  eight  per  cent  occurreci  in 
women  who  had  borne  one  child,  and  it  appeared  in  I  3  per  cent  of  those  who  had  borne 
several  children,  from  which  they  conclude  that  the  trauma  of  bearing  several  children 
had  a  predisposing  influence.  They  insist  very  properly  upon  the  correct  repair  of  these 
lacerations  as  a  means  of  preventing  cancer  of  the  cervix.  Their  findings  and  this 
important  recommendation  agree  fairly  well,  I  believe,  with  the  latest  and  best  teaching 
of  the  leaders  in  our  profession,  but  what  we  must  now  do  is  to  get  all  of  the  doctors  and 
even  the  laity  to  see  and  recognize  their  importance. 

The  tears  of  childbirth  should  be  properly  and  promptly  repaired  to  prevent  uterine 
subinvolutions  and  displacements,  cystocele  and  rectocele.  The  infections  of  childbirth 
and  abortions  should  be  prevented  as  far  as  possible  and  cured  as  quickly  and  thoroughly 
as  possible  to  prevent  other  ills  which  so  often  follow  in  their  train.  The  bad  effects  of 
abortion  whether  inevitable  or  criminal,  and  especially  the  latter  which  is  now  so  fearfully 
common,  should  be  urged  upon  the  profession  and  scientifically  taught  to  women  as  the 
only  rational  and  effective  way  to  avoid  the  sepsis,  the  tubal  and  ovarian  diseases,  as  well 
as  the  nervous  disorders  which  too  often  result. 

Were  it  not  for  the  venereal  diseases,  and  especially  gonorrhoea,  producing  vaginal, 
uterine,  tubal  and  ovarian  inflammations,  abortions  which  produce  inflammations  of  these 
same  parts,  and  improper  care  of  the  pregnant  and  parturient  women,  we  gynecologists 
would  have  very  little  to  do,  our  field  would  be  wonderfully  circumscribed;  and  yet  all 
of  these  are  in  the  main  preventable  troubles  by  well  known  and  well  recognized  means. 

Take  first,  venereal  diseases:  Teach  girls  the  proper  use,  as  well  as  the  evils,  the 
dangers  of  the  abuse  of  the  sexual  system,  or  the  physical  dangers  of  improper  sexual 
relations,  and  of  promiscuous  sexual  intercourse  and  they  have  in  their  own  control  these 
diseases. 


l_>ti  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

Second,  teach  girls  and  women  the  sacredness  of  a  pregnancy  and  the  new  hfe  begun, 
with  all  the  dangers  of  infection,  inflammation,  tubal  and  ovarian,  displacements,  neuras- 
thenia and  invalidism  which  follow  violation  of  nature's  laws  of  procreation,  and  they 
have  it  is  their  own  power  to  prevent  most  of  these  ailments. 

Third,  let  physicians  be  on  the  alert  to  advise  proper  care  of  the  pregnant  woman, 
render  good  attention  to  the  woman  before,  at,  and  after  delivery,  so  that  she  may  get 
up  and  be  as  normal  and  healthy  a  woman  afterwards  as  before  her  confinement.  In 
other  words,  let  the  physician  do  his  full  duty  by  these  women  as  they  go  through  what 
should  be  a  normal  physiological  process  and  they  should  still  be  normal  after  it  is  over. 
In  these  cases  we  should  co-operate  with  nature,  ascertain  what  her  laws  are,  and  help 
the  patient  to  observe  them.  We  may  do  this  quite  largely  by  instruction,  giving  the 
patient  knowledge,  or  needed  information. 

The  farmer,  breeder,  or  raiser  of  fine  stock,  who  would  have  good,  vigorous  colts,  cal- 
ves, or  lambs,  gives  heed  to  having  his  mares,  cows,  and  ewes  not  only  vigorous,  strong, 
healthy,  and  robust,  but  he  looks  well  to  their  care  during  the  time  they  are  with  young,  and 
while  they  nurse  their  young.  He  does  not  expect  them  to  endure  the  same  hardships  in 
these  trying  times  that  they  undergo  in  other  conditions.  They  have  special  care,  shelter, 
food,  and  rest  while  passing  through  this  trying  ordeal,  both  in  the  physical  interest  of  the 
mother  and  her  young.  And,  strange  as  it  may  appear,  the  finer  the  breed,  the  higher 
and  better  the  animal,  the  greater  the  care. 

We  do  not  like  to  compare  woman  with  any  of  the  lower  animals;  but  whilst  she  is 
more,  yes,  vastly  more  than  any  animal,  still  in  her  physical  make-up,  she  is  an  animal  of 
high  order  and  of  intensely  sensitive  and  complex  organization.  Now,  if  the  lower,  grosser 
and  much  coarser  animals  need  and  physically  profit  by  all  the  foregoing  care  and  atten- 
tion, how  much  more  important  that  woman  should  have  thoughtful,  careful,  rational, 
and  scientific  attention  for  this  period  of  her  life.  The  suggestion  has  been  often  made 
and  is  now  being  taken  seriously  in  some  quarters  that  marriages  should  not  be  allowed 
except  upon  proper  health  certificate  of  both  parties  to  the  ceremony.  While  I  am  not 
quite  ready  to  endorse  this  position  in  full,  yet  I  am  sure  it  would  be  well  for  the  children 
yet  unborn  if  certain  diseased  fathers  and  mothers  were  not  permitted  to  have  children. 
And  further,  I  know  well  that  many  women  might  now  be  in  health  who  are  permanent 
invalids,  if  their  husbands  had  not  communicated  venereal  diseases  to  them.  In  these 
cases  proper  health  certificate  would  have  saved  suffering  and  sore  disappointment.  I 
am  glad  to  quote  from  an  article  in  the  Outlook,  by  Max  G.  Schlapp,  because  the  points 
he  makes  are  so  well  taken  and  should  demand  our  earnest  attention.  He  says,  "We  are 
developing  a  womanhood  that  is  becoming  free  of  the  instinctive  desire  for  motherhood, 
and  frequently  without  the  capacity  for  it.  The  racial  strength  of  reproduction  is 
declining.  The  birth-rate  drops,  and  of  the  children  born  the  proportion  of  those  infirm 
mcreases,  so  at  last  we  are  confronted  with  the  proof  that  the  high  speed  effort  of  our 
daily  lives  has  brought  suffering  not  only  upon  ourselves,  but  also  upon  our  children. 
It  is  shocking  to  contemplate  how  far  the  visitation  has  extended. 

The  rate  is  told  in  figures.  There  are  more  criminals  and  imbeciles  to  each  1 ,000  of 
population  than  ever  before.     There  are  fewer  births  to  each  1 ,000  population. 

A  special  committee  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Prevention  of  Cruelty  to 
Children  appointed  to  investigate  the  subject  of  abnormal  and  feeble-minded  children 
reported  the  following  facts  only  a  few  weeks  ago: 

"There  are  in  the  City  of  New  York  at  the  present  time  approxmiately  7,000 
feeble-minded  children,  or  about  one  per  cent  of  the  school  population.  This  is  in 
addition  to  probably  an  equal  number  of  idiots  and  imbeciles  who  do  not  attend 
school.  It  does  not  include,  moreover,  mild  or  border-line  cases,  or  morally  defective 
children.  If  these  latter  types  were  added,  the  number  of  feeble-minded  children  in 
the  city's  public  schools  would  be  probably  increased  to  at  least  ten  thousand. 
"Few  of  the  children  brought  before  the  Children's  Court  are  really  vicious. 
Fully  one-half  of  them  are  the  victims  of  environment.  The  remainder,  or  the  great 
majority  of  them,  are  produced  from  these  ten  thousand  mental  or  moral  defectives 
who  now  roam  at  large  in  the  community  without  any  proper  parental  supervision  or 
medical  care. 

"I  have  before  me  statistical  information  that  I  have  had  condensed  from  the 
official  records  of  various  countries  in  Europe.     I  did  not  attempt  to  get  proofs  from 


SOURCES  OF  PHYSICAL  DEGENERACY  127 

the  records  of  the  United  States  because  they  are  so  fragmentary  and  detached  that 
nothing  of  value  can  be  learned  from  them. 

"It  is  a  safe  and  sane  conclusion,  however,  that  whatever  conditions  affecting 
human  life  obtain  generally  in  a  group  of  modern  countries  will  not  be  materially 
different  in  any  other  country  of  the  same  character,  except  that  they  may  be  more 
or  less  accentuated. 

"France  has  been  called  degenerate  because  of  the  known  decline  in  her  birth- 
rate, which  seemed  to  be  a  matter  of  general  information,  but  France  is  only  worse 
off  by  so  many  degrees  than  her  neighbors,  except  that  her  death  rate  is  greater  than 
her  birth-rate.    And  her  birth-rate  is  the  lowest  of  any  nation. 

"One  has  only  to  take  a  pencil  in  hand  to  determine  how  many  decades  would 
elapse  before  every  vestige  of  a  people  would  be  destroyed  where  more  people  die 
every  day  than  there  are  children  born.  Conditions  in  other  countries  are  not 
materially  different  from  those  in  France,  except  that  other  countries  have  thus  far 
maintained  a  lower  death  rate  than  birth  rate.  This  is  their  margin  of  safety.  The 
birth-rate  has  been  declining  in  every  civilized  country  in  the  last  thirty  or  forty 
years,  until  it  is  everywhere  now  at  its  lowest  point.  France  has  been  going  down  for 
a  century,  until  in  1907,  her  birth  rate  was  19  to  the  thousand  of  population  and  her 
death  rate  20,  a  condition  never  before  known  in  any  modern  country. 

"England  has  made  a  drop  in  her  number  of  births  at  the  rate  of  about  three 
per  cent  in  each  ten  years  for  more  than  a  generation.  There  is  only  one  country  of 
which  statistics  are  kept  that  shows  a  raise  in  the  birth  rate,  and  that  is  Japan. 
Spain  has  lost  only  one  point  in  25  years.     In  the  same  time  England  has  lost  6. 

"In  Switzerland,  an  unusually  vigorous  country,  the  birth-rate  dropped  from 
30  to  27  between  1875  and  1906.  The  death  rate  was  reduced  from  23  to  17  in  the 
same  period.  These  figures  are  for  each  thousand  of  population.  In  the  same  years 
Austria's  birth-rate  fell  from  39  to  34,  and  the  death  rate  from  31  to  25 ;  Belgium's 
birth-rate  from  32  to  25,  and  her  death-rate  from  24  to  16;  Germany's  birth-rate 
from  39  to  33,  and  her  death-rate  from  27  to  18. 

"The  savmg  grace  of  a  dimmishing  death  rate  is  accounted  for  by  the  increased 
efficiency  of  medical  direction,  quarantines  and  sanitation — the  triumph  of  science 
over  disease! 

"Just  as  we  find  the  birth-rate  falling  among  the  progressive  nations  we  find 
insanity  and  crime  increasing.  For  insanity  I  select  for  example  the  records  of 
England.  In  1859,  with  a  population  of  19,686,701,  there  were  36,762  insane 
persons.  In  1910,  with  a  population  of  36,169,170,  there  were  130,553  insane 
persons.  For  crime  I  take  Prussia  as  the  seat  of  industry  of  the  German  empire, 
whose  records  are  most  reliable.  In  1882  the  percentage  of  convicted  criminals 
to  each  100,000  of  population  was  996;  in  1906  it  was  1,229.  The  increase  in  all 
forms  of  crime  was  marked  here  in  this  period,  and  it  is  in  all  countries.  The  number 
of  juvenile  criminals  has  increased  in  greater  proportions.  The  ratios  are  readily 
ascertainable.     I  give  merely  the  suggestions  here. 

"When  overwrought  women  have  disturbed  within  themselves  the  process  of 
nature,  they  impart  a  disturbance  to  their  offspring,  and  as  in  the  case  of  fish,  instead 
of  the  development  of  a  normal  human  being,  there  is  one  disturbed  in  body  or  mind, 
or  in  both.  It  is  fundamental  because  of  the  basic  difference  between  the  male  and 
female  cell.  The  female  cell  is  quiescent.  Its  normal  development  depends  upon 
this  state. 

"Latter-day  women,  driven  by  the  strife  of  the  elements  within  them  to 
enormous  exertions,  are  asking  in  what  way  women  are  inferior  to  men.  and  are 
attempting  to  demonstrate  their  equal  physical  endurance.  It  is  not  a  question  of 
equality  at  all.  It  is  one  of  physical  difference  in  the  sexes,  which  forbids  women 
from  performing  either  factory  lobor  or  disquieting  tasks. 

"Cells  have  three  life  processes:  functional,  formative,  nutritive.  When  we  think, 
run,  walk  or  move,  we  are  excercising  the  functional  process.  The  formative  is  the 
process  which  I  have  already  described,  of  division  and  multiplication  of  cells.  This 
process  ceases  after  we  get  our  growth.  The  nutritive  takes  the  material  from  the 
cells  and  stores  it  up  as  potential  energy. 

"Nature  has  ordained  that  women  keep  in  store  this  potential  energy  for  the 


128  EQUITAXIA,   OH   TIIK    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

hour  she  may  be  called  upon  to  impart  it  to  her  offspring  and  nature  has  provided 
her  own  way  for  using  up  monthly  the  surplus  energy  that  the  woman  accumulates 
and  does  not  need.  The  moment  she  needs  it,  being  with  child,  nature  stops  the 
monthly  waste,  and  while  that  child  needs  nourishment  and  stimulation  from  her 
before  and  after  birth,  the  woman's  function  that  wastes  energy  ceases.  It  is  the 
law,  a  law  that  no  amount  of  modern  women  argument  can  set  aside,  that  this 
monthly  waste  of  energy  shall  take  place  in  the  female  if  she  does  not  need  it  for 
her  young,  and  that  it  shall  not  be  wasted  in  any  other  form  than  that  provided. 
Nature  provides  the  store  and  provides  for  depleting  it,  that  its  process  may  go  on 
unbroken.  When  a  woman  persists  in  being  man-like  in  her  physical  and  mental 
activities,  exerting  her  strength  to  the  limit  of  endurance,  she  will  use  up  energy 
faster  than  the  cells  can  store  it,  and  in  extreme  cases  the  natural  function  will  cease. 
There  will  be  no  surplus  of  energy  to  carry  off,  and  no  necessity  for  nature  to 
establish  her  customary  facilities  for  caring  for  it.  Women  so  afflicted  lose  the 
habits,  the  inclinations  and  the  powers  of  their  sex. 

"A  woman  with  capacity  still  remaining  but  physically  unbalanced  by  constant 
over-exertion,  or  through  alcohol  or  drugs,  which  have  the  same  unbalancing  effect, 
cannot  be  expected  to  impart  to  her  child,  the  normal  stimulant,  or  normal  amount  of 
hormon  that  the  child  must  have  for  its  normal  development.  Why  it  is  that  the 
brain  cells  of  the  child  are  likely  to  be  the  most  affected  we  do  not  know,  but 
presumably  the  brain  cells  are  the  most  delicate,  the  most  vulnerable,  of  any  of  the 
groups,  and  their  processes  the  most  refined. 

"With  unrelenting  industrial  activity,  ever  expanding  and  more  exacting, 
drawing  by  precept  and  example  upon  the  vitalities  of  men  and  women,  the  shocking 
increase  in  the  number  of  insane  and  feeble-minded  persons  from  which  the  criminal 
classes  are  largely  recruited,  is  not  difficult  to  understand." 

The  British  Medical  Journal,  says:  "The  employment  of  married  women  greatly 
diminishes  the  poverty  of  the  family,  but  nothing  can  be  worse  for  the  welfare  of  the 
woman  as  mother,  or  for  the  welfare  of  her  child." 

The  International  Congress  of  Hygienics  adopted  this  formula:  "Every  working 
woman  is  entitled  to  rest  during  the  last  three  months  of  her  pregnancy."  It  is  said 
"In  Germany  women  are  not  allowed  to  work  for  four  weeks  after  confinement,  nor  during 
the  following  two  weeks,  except  by  medical  certificate.  The  obligatory  insurance  against 
disease  which  covers  women  at  confinement  assures  them  an  indemnity  at  this  time 
equivalent  to  a  large  part  of  their  wages.  Married  and  unmarried  mothers  benefit  alike. 
The  Austrian  law  is  founded  upon  the  same  model.  This  measure  has  led  to  a  very  great 
decrease  in  infantile  mortality,  and,  therefore,  a  great  increase  in  health  among  those  who 
survive.  It  is,  however,  regarded  as  very  inadequate,  and  there  is  a  movement  in  Germany 
for  extending  the  time,  for  applying  the  system  to  a  larger  number  of  women,  and  for 
making  it  still  more  definitely  compulsory. 

In  Switzerland  it  has  been  illegal  since  1877  for  any  woman  to  be  received  into  a 
factory  after  confinement,  unless  she  has  rested  in  all  for  eight  weeks,  six  weeks  of  this 
period  at  least  being  after  confinement.  Swiss  working  women  have  been  protected  by 
law  from  exercising  hard  work  during  pregnancy,  and  from  various  other  influences 
likely  to  be  injurious.  But  this  law  is  evaded  in  practice,  because  it  provides  no  compen- 
satory indemnity  for  the  woman.  An  attempt  to  amend  the  law  by  providing  for  such 
indemnity,  was  rejected  by  the  people. 

In  Belgium  and  Holland  there  are  laws  against  women  working  immediately  after 
confinement,  but  no  indemnity  is  provided,  so  that  the  employers  and  employed  combine 
to  evade  the  law.  lo  France  there  is  no  such  law,  although  its  necessity  has  often  been 
emphatically  asserted. 

In  England  it  is  illegial  to  employ  a  woman  "knowingly"  in  a  workshop  within  four 
weeks  of  the  birth  of  her  child,  but  no  provision  is  made  by  the  law  for  the  compensation 
of  the  woman  who  is  thus  required  to  sacrifice  herself  to  the  interests  of  the  state. 

Havelock  Ellis  says:  "It  is  France  that  is  taking  the  lead  in  the  initiation  of  the 
scientific  and  practical  movements  for  the  care  of  the  young  child  before  and  after  birth, 
and  it  is  in  France  that  we  may  find  the  germs  of  nearly  all  the  methods  now  becoming 
adopted  for  arresting  infantile  mortality.    The  village  system  of  Villiers-le-Duc,  near  Dijon, 


PROPER  CARE  OF  WOMEN  129 

in  the  Cote  d'Or,  has  proven  a  gem  of  this  fruitful  kind.  Here  every  pregnant  woman  not 
able  to  secure  the  right  conditions  for  her  own  life  and  that  of  the  child  she  is  bearing  is 
able  to  claim  the  assistance  of  the  village  authorities;  she  is  entitled,  without  payment, 
to  the  attendance  of  a  doctor  and  midwife  and  to  one  franc  a  day  during  her  confinement. 
The  measures  adopted  in  this  village  have  practically  abolished  both  maternal  and 
infantile  mortality." 

Sir  W.  S.  Playfair  once  said:  "I  know  of  no  large  girl's  school  in  which  the  absolute 
distinction  which  exists  between  boys  and  girls  as  regards  the  dominant  menstrual  function 
is  systematically  cared  for  and  attended  to.  Indeed,  the  feeling  of  all  school  mistresses 
is  distinctly  antagonistic  to  such  an  admission.  The  contention  is  that  there  is  no  real 
difference  between  an  adolescent  male  and  female,  that  what  is  good  for  one  is  good  for 
the  other,  and  that  such  as  there  is,  is  due  to  the  evil  customs  of  the  past,  which  have 
denied  to  women  the  ambitions  and  advantages  open  to  men,  and  that  this  will  disappear 
when  a  happier  era  is  inaugurated.  If  this  be  so,  how  comes  it  that  while  every 
practicing  physician  of  experience  has  seen  many  cases  of  anemia  and  chlorosis  in  girls, 
accompanied  by  amenorrhoea  or  menorrhagia,  headaches,  palpitations,  emaciation,  and 
all  the  familiar  accompainments  of  breakdown,  an  analogous  condition  in  a  school  boy  is 
so  rare  that  it  may  well  be  doubted  if  ever  seen  at  all." 

And  Tilt  some  years  before  said:  "That  from  a  statistical  inquiry  regarding  the 
onset  of  menstruation  in  nearly  one  thousand  women  he  found  that  25  per  cent  were 
wholly  unprepared  for  its  appearance;  that  thirteen  out  of  the  twenty-five  were  much 
frightened,  screamed,  or  went  into  hysterical  fits;  that  six  out  of  the  thirteen  thought 
themselves  wounded,  and  washed  with  cold  water.  Of  those  frightened — the  general 
health  was  seriously  impaired." 

While  our  own  Engelman  said:  "To  innumerable  women  has  fright,  nervous  and 
emotional  excitement,  exposure  to  cold,  brought  injury  at  puberty.  What  more  natural 
than  that  the  anxious  girl,  surprised  by  the  sudden  and  unexpected  loss  of  the  precious 
life-fluid,  should  seek  to  check  the  bleeding  wound,  as  she  supposes?  For  this  purpose 
the  use  of  cold  washes  and  applications  is  common,  some  even  seek  to  stop  the  flow  by 
a  cold  bath,  as  was  done  by  a  now  careful  mother,  who  long  lay  at  the  point  of  death  from 
the  result  of  such  indiscretion,  and  but  slowly,  by  years  of  care,  regained  her  health.  The 
terrible  warning  had  not  been  lost,  and  mindful  of  her  own  experience  she  has  taught  her 
children  a  lesson  which  but  few  are  fortunate  enough  to  learn — the  individual  care  during 
periods  of  functional  activity  which  is  needful  for  the  preservation  of  woman's  health." 

And  Ellis  very  properly  says:  "The  data  now  being  accumulated  show  not  only  the 
extreme  prevalence  of  painful,  disordered  and  absent  menstruation  in  adolescent  girls 
and  young  women,  but  also  the  great  and  sometimes  permanent  evils  inflicted  upon  even 
healthy  girls  when  at  the  beginning  of  sexual  life  they  are  subjected  to  severe  strain  of 
any  kind.  Medical  authorities,  whichever  sex  they  belong  to,  may  now  be  said  to  be 
almost  or  quite  unanimous  on  this  point. 

"The  opinions  of  our  teachers  are  now  tending  to  agree  with  medical  opinion  in 
recognizing  the  importance  of  care  and  rest  during  the  years  of  adolescence,  and  the 
teachers  are  even  prepared  to  admit  that  a  year's  rest  from  hard  work  during  the  period 
that  a  girl's  sexual  life  is  becoming  established,  while  it  may  insure  her  health  and  vigor, 
is  not  even  a  disadvantage  from  the  educational  point  of  view." 

"It  has  been  found  in  an  American  Woman's  College  in  which  about  half  the  scholars 
wore  corsets  and  half  not,  that  nearly  all  the  honors  and  prizes  went  to  the  non-corset 
wearers.  McBride,  in  bringing  forward  this  fact,  pertinently  remarks:  'If  the  wearing 
of  a  single  style  of  dress  will  make  this  difference  in  the  lives  of  young  women,  and  that, 
too,  in  their  most  vigorous  and  resistive  period,  how  much  difference  will  a  score  of  un- 
healthy habits  make,  if  persisted  in  for  a  life  time?'  " 

Justice  Brewer,  in  delivering  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  upon 
the  right  of  a  state  to  put  other  limitations  upon  working  women  than  upon  men,  said: 
"The  two  sexes  differ  in  the  structure  of  the  body,  in  the  functions  to  be  performed  by 
each,  in  the  amount  of  physical  strength,  in  the  capacity  for  long-continued  labor,  par- 
ticularly when  done  standing,  the  influence  of  vigorous  health  upon  the  future  well-being 
of  the  race,  the  self-reliance  which  enables  one  to  assert  full  rights,  and  in  the  capacity 
to  maintain  the  struggle  for  subsistence.     This  difference  justifies  a  difference  in  legisla- 


130  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE    LAND   OF  ?:QUITY 

lion  and  upholds  that  which  is  designed  to  compensate  for  some  of  the  burdens  which 
rest  upon  her." 

A.  E.  Giles,  in  his  paper,  "Some  points  of  Preventive  Treatment  in  the  Diseases  of 
Women."  says:  "That  dysmenorrhoea  might  be  to  a  large  extent  prevented  by  attention 
to  general  health  and  education.  Short  hours  of  work,  especially  of  standing;  plenty 
of  outdoor  exercise,  tennis,  boating,  cycling,  gymnastics  and  walking  for  those  who  can- 
not afford  these;  regularity  of  meals  and  food  of  the  proper  quality — not  the  incessant 
tea  and  bread  and  butter,  with  variation  of  pastry;  the  avoidance  of  over-exertion  and 
prolonged  fatigue;  these  are  some  of  the  principal  things  which  require  attention.  Let 
girls  pursue  their  study,  but  more  leisurely;  they  will  arrive  at  the  same  goal,  but  a 
little  later." 

Another  point  which  I  think  Ellis  rightly  emphasizes  is  this,  when  he  says:  "A 
proper  recognition  of  the  special  nature  of  woman,  of  her  peculiar  needs  and  her  dignity, 
has  a  significance  beyond  its  importance  in  education  and  hygiene.  The  traditions  and 
training  to  which  she  is  subjected  in  this  matter  have  a  subtle  and  far-reaching  signifi- 
cance, according  as  they  are  good  or  evil.  If  she  is  taught  implicitly  or  explicitly  con- 
tempt for  the  characteristics  of  her  own  sex,  she  naturally  develops  masculine  ideals 
which  may  permanently  discolor  her  vision  of  life  and  distort  her  practical  activities;  it 
has  been  found  that  as  many  as  fifty  per  cent  of  American  school  girls  have  masculine 
ideals,  while  fifteen  per  cent  American,  and  no  fewer  than  thirty-four  per  cent  English 
school  girls  wished  to  be  men,  though  scarcely  any  boys  wished  to  be  women."  And 
when  he  further  shows  how  in  Europe  the  question  of  educating  the  young  along  the  lines 
of  Sexual  Hygiene  in  the  following:  "A  beginning  in  this  direction  has  been  made  in 
Germany  by  the  delivery  to  teachers  of  courses  of  lectures  on  sexual  hygiene  in  education. 
In  Prussia  the  first  attempt  was  made  in  Breslau,  when  the  central  school  authorities  re- 
quested Dr.  Martin  Chotzen  to  deliver  such  a  course  to  one  hundred  and  fifty  teachers, 
who  took  the  greatest  interest  in  the  lectures,  which  covered  the  anatomy  of  the  sexual 
organs,  the  development  of  the  sexual  instinct,  its  chief  perversions,  venereal  diseases  and 
the  importance  of  the  cultivation  of  self-control. 

"There  is  no  evidence  that  in  England  the  Minister  of  Education  has  yet  any  steps 
to  insure  the  delivery  of  lectures  on  sexual  hygiene  to  the  pupils  who  are  about  to  leave 
school.  In  Prussia,  however,  the  Ministry  of  Education  has  taken  an  active  interest  in 
this  matter,  and  such  lectures  are  beginning  to  be  commonly  delivered,  though  attendance 
at  them  is  not  usually  obligatory.  Some  years  ago  (in  1^00),  when  it  was  proposed  to 
deliver  a  series  of  lectures  on  sexual  hygierie  to  the  advanced  pupils  in  Berlin  schools, 
under  the  auspices  of  a  society  for  the  improvement  of  morals,  the  municipal  authorities 
withdrew  their  permission  to  use  the  class  rooms,  on  the  ground  that  'such  lectures 
would  be  extremely  dangerous  to  the  moral  sense  of  an  audience  of  the  young.'  The 
same  objection  has  been  made  by  the  municipal  officials  in  France.  In  Germany,  at  all 
events,  however,  opinion  is  rapidly  growing  more  enlightened.  In  England  little  or  no 
progress  has  yet  been  made,  but  in  America  steps  are  being  taken  in  this  direction,  as  by 
the  Chicago  Society  for  Social  Hygiene.  It  must,  indeed,  be  said  that  those  who  oppose 
the  sexual  enlightenment  of  youth  in  large  cities  are  directly  allying  themselves,  whether 
or  not  they  know  it,  with  the  influences  that  make  for  vice  and  immorality. 

"Such  lectures  are  also  given  to  girls  on  leaving  school,  not  only  girls  of  the  well- 
to-do,  but  also  those  of  the  poorer  class,  who  need  them  fully  as  much,  and  in  some 
respects  more.  Thus  Dr.  A.  Heidenhain  has  published  a  lecture,  accompanied  by  ana- 
tomical tables,  which  he  has  delivered  to  girls  about  to  leave  school,  and  which  is  in- 
tended to  be  put  in  their  hands  at  this  time.  Salvat,  in  a  Lyon  thesis,  insists  that  the 
hygiene  of  pregnancy  and  the  care  of  infants  should  form  part  of  the  subject  of  such 
lectures.     These  subjects  might  well  be  left,  however,  to  a  somewhat  later  period." 

Recently  a  writer  said:  "The  tendency  to  smaller  American  families  has  been 
termed  'race  suicide.'  And  an  increase  in  the  birth  rate  has  been  urged  to  guard  against 
possible  race  extinction. 

"Is  this  the  only  remedy?  If  there  is  danger  of  race  suicide,  it  lies  not  so  much  in 
the  decreasing  birth  rate  as  it  does  in  our  needlessly  high  death  rate. 

"If  our  rapidly  advancing  civilization  has  reduced  the  native  birth  rate,  it  has  also 
provided  us  with   life-saving  knowledge  wherewith   to  offset  it. 

"Four  out  of  every  ten  deaths  are  due  to  preventable  disease  and  accident.     The 


HEALTH  AND  LONGEVITY  131 

saving  of  these  lives  would  reduce  the  present  dath  rate  from  15  to  9  per  I  000  popula 
tion,  and  thereby  increase  the  surplus  of  births  by  just  the  number  saved,  and  the  off- 
sprmg  oi  the  lives  thus  saved  would  increase  it  still  more. 

"Does  such  a  reduction  in  the  death-rate  seem  impossible?  It  should  not,  for  it  is 
already  as  low  as  ten  in  at  least  two  states  in  the  Union,  and  is  less  than  ten  in  Australia 
and  INew  Zealand. 

And  another  said:  "In  Geneva,  Switzerland,  where  the  country  is  supposed  to  be 
very  healthy  the  length  of  life  in  the  sixteenth  century  was  only  21.2;  in  the  seventeenth 
century,  25.7;  m  the  eighteenth  century,  33.6;  from  1801  to  1883.  39.7,  and  it  is 
steadily  improving. 

"Scientific  hygiene  and  increased  knowledge  of  the  laws  relating  to  health  have  had 
a  very  striking  effect  upon  the  prolongation  of  human  life  throughout  the  world. 

"At  present,  in  Massachusetts,  life  is  lengthening  at  the  rate  of  fourteen  years  per 
ceritury;  in  Europe,  about  seventeen  years;  in  Prussia,  the  land  of  medical  discovery 
and  its  application,  twenty-seven  years;  in  India,  where  medical  progress  is  practically  un- 
known, the  life  span  is  short  twenty-three,  and  remains  stationary. 

"It  is  demonstrated  beyond  reasonable  doubt  by  the  report  of  the  Committee  of  One 
Hundred  that  the  average  human  life  in  the  United  States  may  be,  within  a  generation, 
prolonged  over  fourteen  years." 

"When  we  think  of  the  650,000  annual  deaths  in  the  United  States  said  to  be  pre- 
ventable, we  can  readily  see  that  much  remains  for  the  physicians  to  do  along  the  most 
humane  side  of  his  calling." 

Ella  Wheeler  Wilcox,  in  commenting  upon  a  new  woman's  club  recently  formed  which 
has  for  its  object,  among  other  things— 1,  anti-insanity,  prevention;  2,  anti-contagious 
diseases;  3  marriage  of  the  healthy  to  be  encouraged;  4,  educating  the  young  to  avoid 
pitfalls  and  prevent  diseases;  5,  pure  food,  pure  drugs,  board  of  health  laws  to  uphold 
and  enforce — says : 

"The  work  undertaken  by  these  good  women  is  collossal,  but  it  is  work  emi- 
nently fitted  for  women  to  do. 

"Too  many  centuries  have  gone  by  in  which  women  believed  their  work  con- 
sisted in  marrying  'and  no  questions  asked'  regarding  the  moral  nature  and  physical 
fitness  of  the  men  they  married  to  become  husbands  and  fathers  and  in  bearing 
children  and  leaving  the  education  of  these  children  entirely  to  the  schools. 

"Not  one  mother  in  one  thousand  ever  considered  it  her  duty  to  talk  to  her  boys 
and  girls  regarding  the  emotional  phase  of  life,  or  to  prepare  them  for  an  understand- 
ing of  the  world  before  they  were  thrown  into  the  maelstrom. 

"Ignorance  was  misnamed  innocence,  and  sorrow,  sin,  invalidism  and  life-long 
tragedies  have  resulted  from  thes  mistaken  methods  of  the  old-fashioned  mother. 

"There  is  just  as  great  a  difference  between  the  old-fashioned  type  of  mother 
and  the  mother  who  has  now  come  upon  the  scene,  with  her  mother's  clubs,  as  there 
is  between  the  old-fashioned  broom  and  the  vacuum  cleaner. 

"The  old-fashinoned  mother  gloried  in  a  'big  family.' 

"If  one  was  halt,  another  blind,  another  deaf,  another  afflicted  with  spinal 
trouble,  she  called  it  the  'will  of  God.' 

"The  modern  m.other  knows  that  just  as  the  field,  however  fertile,  must  have  its 
seasons  of  rest  in  order  to  produce  good  grain,  and  the  orchard  trees  cannot  bear 
good  fruit  every  consecutive  year,  so  no  woman  can  bear  a  child  every  year  or  every 
alternate  year  during  her  whole  maternal  period  of  life  and  give  the  world  desirable 
citizens. 

"Therefore,  quality,  not  quantity,  is  now  the  mother's  pride  in  presenting 
children  to  the  world. 

"The  old-fashioned  mother  believed  all  disease  the  'will  of  God.' 

"The  modern  mother  knows  it  to  be  the  result  of  breaking  God's  laws.  And 
she  busies  herself  in  studying  ways  and  means  to  educate  men  and  women  to  under- 
stand the  laws  of  health  and  to  live  accordingly." 

When  the  laity  get  to  discussing  these  practical  questions  and  forming  societies 
along  these  lines,  it  is  a  most  encouraging  sign  that  our  efforts  as  physicians,  and  the 
agitation  against  disease,  and  instruction  given  to  the  public  by  the  medical  profession 


132  EQUITANIA,  OR  THE  LAND  OF  EQUITY 

is  bearing  fruit,  and  if  we  presist  in  a  careful,  scientific,  but  progressive  leadership,  hu- 
manity will  owe  it  higher  honors,  and  will  bestow  upon  it  greater  praise  than  ever  yet 
has  crowned  its  lobors. 

In  looking  over  the  Government  census  a  short  time  ago,  I  found  there  were  in  the 
United  States,  on  a  given  date,  adult  prisoners  81,772  of  which  77,269  were  males, 
while  only  4,503  were  females.  Of  juvenile  delinquents  there  were  23,034,  of  which 
17,177  were  males  and  only  4,857  females.  Of  paupers  in  almshouses  there  were 
81,764,  almost  as  many  paupers  as  criminals,  and  of  these  52,444  were  males  and  only 
29,320  were  females.  Of  insane  in  asylums  there  were  150,151,  of  which  78,523  were 
males  and  71,628  were  females.  Of  feeble-minded  in  public  institutions  there  were 
14,347  of  which  7,624  were  males  and  6,723  were  females.  In  other  words,  the  feeble- 
minded and  the  insane  were  almost  equally  divided  between  the  sexes,  the  males,  however, 
predominating,  while  of  delinquents,  paupers  and  criminals  the  males  were  147,890  as 
against  38,680,  or  four  times  as  many  males  as  females,  while  in  the  criminal  class  the 
males  were  seventeen  times  as  numerous  as  the  females.  Therefore,  I  feel  an  additional 
incentive  in  asking  that  women  be  taught  the  things  they  ought  to  know  about  themselves, 
their  duties,  and  relations  in  life,  and  how  in  a  truly  scientific  and  natural  way  they  may  be 
saved  from  many  of  the  diseases  which  now  afflict,  distress,  multilate  and  kill  them. 

Let  me  summarize  by  saying  that  preventive  gynecology  means  that  we  must — 

First — Have  girls  better  born,  have  them  born  with  better  bodies,  require 
their  parents  to  bring  them  into  the  world  with  better  physicial  organisms. 

Second — Have  girls  taught  in  their  homes,  and  in  the  public  schools,  the 
mechanism  of  their  bodies,  and  their  special  functions  as  the  females  of  the  race. 

Third — Teach  girls  in  the  home  and  in  the  public  schools  the  proper  use  and  the 
awful  danger  of  the  abuse  of  the  sexual  system. 

Fourth — Teach  girls  in  the  home,  and  in  the  public  schools,  the  proper  care  of 
the  body  during  the  growing  or  formative  period,  and  during  menstruation. 

Fifth — Teach  young  women  the  privileges  and  duties  of  marriage,  the  sacredness 
of  life  from  the  moment  of  conception,  the  honor  and  dignity  of  wife,  motherhood, 
and  home-maker. 

Sixth — The  dangers  to  life  and  health  from  abortions,  either  criminal  or  acci- 
dental, because  in  violation  of  the  fundamental  laws  of  nature  for  the  propagation 
of  the  race. 

Seventh — Teach  young  women  the  proper  care  of  the  pregnant  woman,  and  the 
nursing  mother,  and  afford  them  the  opportunity  to  observe  the  necessary  sanitary 
and  hygienic   rules. 

Eighth — Give  the  woman  before,  during,  and  after  confinement  proper  medical 
care,  so  that  she  may  naturally  and  easily  return  to  her  normal  condition  following 
this  physiological  process. 

Ninth — Require  health  certificates  from  competent  authority  that  both  parties 
are  absolutely  free  from  venereal  disease  before  marriage  is  allowed. 

When  these  things  are  understood,  taught  and  universally  observed,  most  of  the 
gynecological  diseases  will  disappear  and  be  heard  of  no  more. 

FOURTH:— THE  DUTY  OF  THE  STATE  TO  PROMOTE  THE  HEALTH  OF  ITS  SUB- 
JECTS BY  STERILIZING  ITS  INSANE,  EPILEPTICS,  DEGENERATES,  INEBRI- 
ATES AND  OTHER  HABITUAL  DRUG  USERS,  AS  WELL  AS  TO  STERILIZE 
ITS  CONFIRMED  CRIMINALS  FOR  SOCIAL  AND  ECONOMIC  REASONS. 

Every  child  has  a  right  to  be  well  born.  No  parent  has  a  right  to  transmit  a  loath- 
some and  death-dealing  disease  to  his  offspring. 

The  state  in  all  civilized  society  does  not  allow  the  parent  to  treat  his  children  with 
extreme  cruelty;  why  then  let  him  by  heredity  impart  physical  imperfections  from  which 
there  is  no  escape? 

The  state  does  not  allow  the  parent  to  kill  his  child  by  any  direct  means;  why  allow 
it  to  be  done  by  indirect  or  circuitous  methods? 

Sterilization  deprives  the  parent  of  no  pleasure,  right,  or  privilege,  except  the  single 
one  of  bearing  offspring,  but  if  he  is  not  capable  of  rearing  children  which  have  a  rea- 


DANGERS  OF  ALCOHOL  AND  TOBACCO  133 

sonable  chance  of  health,  usefulness  and  happiness,  then  he  should  not  want  nor  be 
allowed  this  privilege.  Sterilization  simply  means  depriving  the  individual  of  the  power 
of  procreation,  which  in  the  male  is  done  by  vasectomy  and  in  the  female  by  resection  of 
the  Fallopian  tube.  It  does  not  unsex  the  person  in  any  manner,  it  does  not  even 
deprive  the  person  of  any  organ,  tissue  or  part,  and  it  preserves  to  the  person  all  the 
powers  and  peculiar  characteristics  belonging  to  the  individual  sex.  In  the  cases  which 
need  sterilization  I  would  not  favor  castration  or  oophorectomy.  These  operations  should 
be  reserved  for  punishment  to  criminals  of  a  certain  type,  and  for  diseased  conditions  in 
which  no  milder  means  are  effective.  For  example,  the  rapist,  the  confirmed  masturba- 
tionist  and  pervert. 

The  insane  asylums,  the  institutions  for  the  feeble-minded,  are  noble  and  splendid 
exhibitions  of  the  humanitarian  spirit  of  mankind;  but  they  are  more,  they  are  reservoirs 
of  information  and  contain  the  lasting  and  incontrovertible  evidence  of  man's  ignorance, 
his  lust,  his  lack  of  self  control,  and  the  result  of  this  evil  appetite  and  selfishness,  together 
with  his  inordinate  avarice. 

It  is  quite  true  that  we  do  not  know  today,  after  all  these  years  and  careful  study 
and  wide  investigation,  just  what  the  pathology  of  insanity  is,  nor  just  exactly  why 
people  become  unbalanced  and  the  mind  loses  control  of  the  man.  At  times  it  seems  to  be 
a  very  simple  cause  which  has  wrought  the  injury  and  has  been  the  final  factor  in  making 
the  mind  unstable;  but  back  of  all  that,  we  do  know  that  there  has  been  a  train  of 
causes  working  quietly  and  often  very  imperceptibly  upon  a  mind  which  has  been  defec- 
tive in  cell  life,  or  by  heredity  was  a  favorable  soil  for  these  minor  causes  to  develop  in, 
to  an  effective  degree. 

It  has  been  shown  over  and  over  again  by  the  most  painstaking  research  in  all 
civilized  lands  that  the  insane  do  give  an  hereditary  taint  of  weakness  and  mental  insta- 
bility to  their  offspring  which  may  easily  be  thrown  off  balance  and  render  the  victim  a 
subject  for  restraint. 

But  more,  it  is  found  that  the  insane  in  a  very  large  per  cent,  are  the  offspring  and 
the  direct  result  of  numerous  defects  in  anrestois,  such  as  alcoholism,  epilepsy,  or  other 
nervous  disorder.  The  morphine,  cocaine  fiend,  or  other  slave  to  drugs,  necessarily  trans- 
mits to  his  child  a  weak  and  defective  nervous  system,  which  may  easily  take  on  insanity 
or  other  disorder,  and  even  the  tobacco  user  should  be  warned  of  the  danger  which  he 
incurs  of  giving  his  child  a  severe  handicap  in  the  race  of  life,  because  if  he  goes  beyond 
the  very  m.oderate  use  of  a  narcotic,  it  will  leave  its  mark  of  degeneration  upon  his  child, 
and  there  is  no  permanent  recovery  from  such  impress.  This  warning  is  just  now  all 
the  more  imperative  for  the  rate  of  increase  in  the  use  of  tobacco  per  capita  in  the  United 
States  IS  passing  all  bounds,  and  the  damage  is  already  being  done  which  the  coming 
generation  will  reap. 

Professor  Bier,  one  of  the  leading  surgeons  of  Europe,  says  that  tobacco,  and 
especially  where  used  in  cigarettes,  is  the  undoubted  cause  of  many  cases  of  arterio- 
sclerosis and  of  Raynaud's  disease. 

Of  course  no  one  is  wise  enough  to  know,  and  few,  if  any,  would  be  rash  enough  to 
say,  just  what  proportion  of  the  insane  of  all  degrees  in  any  country  is  due  to  the  excessive 
use  of  drugs,  including  both  alcohol  and  tobacco,  for  we  have  not  yet  learned  for  certain 
the  pathology  of  insanity,  nor  how  it  is  produced.  It  is  known  that  a  large  per  cent  have 
had  a  taint  of  alcoholic  or  other  drug  excesses  in  themselves  or  their  ancestors. 

Every  physician  of  any  wide  experience  has  had  numerous  cases  of  nervous  break- 
down, stomach,  heart,  or  arterial  difficulty  from  the  over-use  or  abuse  of  some  of  these 
drugs.  It  is  also  a  well  known  fact  that  all  modern  and  reliable  insurance  companies  now 
require  every  applicant  for  insurance  to  give  a  very  careful  statement  of  just  what  kind  of 
liquor  he  uses  and  the  daily  amount  as  well  as  the  weekly  amount  and  manner  of 
tobacco  using.  They  also  require  a  report  upon  the  use  of  any  other  drug.  Any  material 
variation  from  a  truthful  statement  upon  these  points  will  vitiate  the  policy  and  render 
it  null  and  void.  They  will  not  take  any  risk  upon  the  life  of  man  or  woman  who  is 
known  to  be  a  habitual  user  of  opiates  of  any  kind.  And  they  refuse  all  applications  of 
alcoholics  who  are  found  to  be  excessive  users  of  these  intoxicants;  while  those  who  use 
tobacco  in  great  excess  are  likewise  turned  down.  Every  examiner  of  any  large  number 
of  men  is  struck  with  the  frequency  of  evil  effects  of  both  alcohol  and  tobacco,  so  that  it  is 
no  uncommon  thing  for  him  to  reject  the  applicant  altogether,  or  caution  him  about  the 


134  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

use  of  these  harmful  agencies,  and  require  a  curtailment  of  them  and  re-examination  at  a 
later  period. 

No  man  would  say  that  a  very  moderate  use  of  alcoholics  and  tobacco  is  necessarily 
harmful  to  the  body,  or  sinful.  Because  it  is  not.  On  the  other  hand,  all  sensible  men 
agree  that  the  excessive  use  or  abuse  of  either  one  or  the  other  is  decidedly  harmful  and 
may  seriously  affect  the  body  and  greatly  shorten  life.  And  all  will  agree,  too,  that 
detrimental  effects  may  be  transmitted  to  the  offspring.  And  therefore,  I  am  contending 
for  the  truthful  instruction  of  the  children  in  our  public  schools  upon  these  points,  and  for 
the  enlightenment  of  the  public  upon  them,  and  finally  for  the  sterilization  of  those  who 
have  ruined  their  bodies  by  these  and  allied  excesses  before  they  transmit  disease,  pre- 
mature decay  and  death  to  their  offspring. 

It  is  idle  to  deny  that  thousands  of  men  use  both  tobacco  and  alcohol  for  many 
years  without  any  apparent  injury  to  themselves  or  their  posterity.  Their  health  may 
remain  good  and  they  live  out  their  expectancy  and  end  their  days  in  peace  by  a  per- 
fectly natural  death.  And  therefore  we  need  not  concern  ourselves  about  coercing  men 
to  refrain  from  the  use  of  these  drugs.  It  is  also  well  known  that  no  one  knows  just 
where  the  border  line  between  safely  and  danger  is,  in  the  moderate  or  excessive  use  of 
these  drugs.  But  it  is  equally  true  that  every  responsible  being  has  a  perfect  right  to  use 
his  own  judgment  and  choose  for  himself  whether  or  not  he  will  use  them;  and  it  is  no 
less  true  that  many  who  begin  very  moderately  do  go  to  excess  and  are  not  able  to  control 
the  inordinate  appetite  which  they  have  voluntarily  but  unwittingly  created.  It  is  a  high 
function  of  the  state  to  help  discover  for,  and  disseminate  to,  its  subjects  the  facts  about 
such  matters,  that  citizens  may  be  able  to  more  wisely  choose  and  direct  their  course. 

And  the  sterilization  of  such  as  become  defectives  would  be  a  most  practical  measure 
along  the  lines  of  education,  and  thus  voluntary  prevention.  Another  valuable  means 
would  be  through  its  State  University  and  in  connection  with  its  State  Board  of  Health, 
to  investigate  and  tabulate  the  facts  along  all  such  lines  and  spread  them  before  the 
public  in  quarterly  or  annual  bulletins  for  the  information  and  guidance  of  the  people. 
In  fact,  whatever  pertains  to  the  public  health,  is  of  vital  importance  to  the  state,  because 
its  most  valuable  asset  is  its  people;  and  their  health  is  therefore  to  be  looked  after  and 
protected  above  every  other  material  consideration.  And  the  best  and  most  economical 
way  to  do  that,  is  to  prevent  the  on-coming  of  disease  and  arrest  it  before  it  begins. 

In  March  of  the  present  year,  the  new  Chancellor  of  the  University  of  New  York 
sent  me  a  letter,  as  he  did  to  other  alumni,  as  follows: 

"New  York  University  is  now  engaged  in  the  work  of  self-scrutiny  with  the 
purpose  of  widening  the  scope  and  increasing  continuously  the  efficiency  of  its 
service. 

"To  do  this  effectively  it  needs  constructive  suggestions,  and  for  these  it  turns 
with  confidence  to  those  who  have  supplemented  the  training  received  in  its  classes 
with  experience  in  meeting  the  problems  of  their  several  vocations. 

"You  will  render  a  service  to  the  University  by  giving  your  opinion  as  to  ways 
in  which  it  could  have  better  prepared  you  for  dealing  with  those  problems.  Sug- 
gestions are  also  desired  regarding  new  fields  which  any  of  the  schools  of  the 
University,  or  new  schools  to  be  established  by  the  University,  might  profitably  enter. 

"In  short,  the  University  desires  constructive  suggestions  regarding  any  kind  of 
service  which  it  might  properly  have  rendered  to  you  and  did  not,  or  which  it  might 
properly  render  to  others  and  does  not;  and  regarding  ways  of  making  more 
effective  any  service  it  may  undertake  to  render." 

To  this  I  replied  in  part,  as  follows: 

"Chancellor  E.  E.  Brown,  New  York  University,  New  York  City. 

"My  Dear  Sir: — Replying  to  your  inquiry  concerning  the  things  which  my 
experience  as  a  physician  has  taught  me  the  University  might  helpfully  take  up  for 
its  future  work,  would  say  I  am  fully  persuaded  it  could  be  specially  valuable  to  its 
present  students,  and  many  others,  by  adding  the  following  lines  to  its  present 
course : 

"1st.  Teach  all  its  students,  male  and  female,  in  their  earliest  years,  the  proper 
use  of  the  sexual  system,  and  the  direful  evils  of  its  abue,  both  to  the  individual  and 
his  or  her,  posterity. 


TEACH  THE  WHOI.K  TRUTH  135 

"2nd.  Teach  all,  as  early  as  possible,  the  truth  about  the  effects  of  drugs,  such 
as  alcohol,  tobacco,  cocaine,  morphine,  ether,  and  the  other  common  ones  so  much 
used  to  excess,  and  so  intensely  injurious  to  the  physical  system  when  unnecessarily 
used.     In  short,  teach  them  the  dangers  of  the  'Drug  Habit.' 

"3rd.  Teach  them  the  importance  of  a  high,  moral  character  as  a  basis  for  a 
proper  education  and  a  worthy  career.  Of  course,  personally,  I  believe  a  true 
Christian  education  to  be  the  ideal  one;  but  for  those  who  do  not  wish  to  go  so  far 
as  to  embrace  all  thereby  fairly  implied,  a  high,  moral  ideal  ought  not  to  be 
obnoxious." 

The  importance  of  these  quotations  is  simply  to  show  that  when  leaders  in  our 
greatest  colleges  and  universities  are  beginning  to  ask  how  they  can  make  their  institutions 
more  useful,  and  more  practical,  there  is  a  real  encouragemnt  for  the  race. 

The  state  is  doing  good  work  in  the  public  schools  by  teaching  the  children  somewhat 
of  the  evil  effects  of  alcohol  and  tobacco  and  other  poisons  upon  the  human  system.  The 
state  has  done  well  in  the  enactment  of  a  law  forbidding  the  sale  of  tobacco  to  the  boy 
under  eighteen  years  of  age;  and  making  the  boy  who  uses  it  also  amenable  to  punish- 
ment, for  we  cannot  begin  too  soon  to  teach  individual  responsibility  for  doing  wrong  and 
not  doing  right.  In  our  present  stae  of  civilization  we  cannot  and  we  ought  not  to  inter- 
fere with  any  person's  privilege  or  liberty  of  using  tobacco  in  any  manner  he  pleases,  so 
long  as  he  does  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others,  and  so  long  as  he  is  a  responsible, 
capable  individual.  But  scientifically  we  have  already  learned  the  evil  effects  of  too  much 
tobacco  upon  the  heart,  the  blood  vessels  and  the  nervous  system,  and  we  do  know  that 
these  effects  of  degeneration  are  transmitted  to  the  children,  and  that  they  are  forever 
in  physical  deterioration,  and  their  organisms  are  necessarily  below  par.  Hence  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  state  to  teach  these  things  by  wide  publicity  so  that  all  may  know  the 
dangers  they  incur  and  the  great  probability  of  the  evil  results  which  may  come  to  their 
children  in  consequence. 

People  of  ordinary  intelligence  and  good  morals  want  to  know  the  facts  about  all 
such  questions,  and  while  they  are  not  willing  (and  rightly  so)  to  be  coerced  to  any  par- 
ticular form  of  moral  action  as  a  standard  set  up  by  others,  still  they  want  to  know  the 
truth,  and  they  wish  to  have  the  privilege  of  choosing  for  themselves.  In  other  words, 
every  one  is  conscious  of  the  universal  fact  that  no  human  power  has  any  right  to  compel 
another  to  follow  or  observe  its  particular  brand  of  religion  or  morals,  and  that  essentially 
human  freedom  and  liberty  mean  exactly  that  right,  namely  to  worship  what,  when  and 
where  he  pleases,  and  practice  the  code  of  morals  each  may  individually  choose  for  him- 
self. But  it  is  the  privilege  and  duty  of  the  state  to  afford  its  subjects  every  facility  for 
getting  the  knowledge  necessary  for  their  betterment  and  to  encourage  them  in  the  prac- 
tice of  those  virtues  which  will  make  them  better  and  happier  subjects,  while  at  the  same 
time,  it  promotes  the  welfare  and  the  perpetuity  of  the  state. 

The  state  owes  it  to  the  child  first,  and  to  itself  second,  to  prevent  these  men  and 
women  whose  moral  standard  is  so  low  and  whose  ignorance  is  so  great  that  they  would 
knowingly  and  willingly  transmit  prevent8ble  diseases  or  physical  defects  to  their  child- 
ren, and  thus  inflict  upon  them  these  undesirable  conditions  and  impose  unnecessary 
and  unjust  burden  upon  the  state  to  render  them  sterile  and  avert  disaster.  Parents 
may  well  be  taught  their  responsibility  to  their  offspring  and  their  duty  to  the  state 
in  not  cruelly  inflicting  the  one,  nor  imposing  upon  the  other;  and  when  these  plain 
facts  are  made  known  to  the  people,  those  who  are  worthy  and  capable  will  voluntarily 
refrain  from  producing  their  kind,  and  all  others  should  be  compelled  to  do  so. 

The  state  has  no  right  to  say  what  any  one  of  its  responsible  subjects  may  eat  or 
drink  so  long  as  he  does  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  another,  it  is  the  province  and 
the  duty  of  the  state  to  step  in  and  protect  the  interests  and  riahts  of  its  subjects  by  what- 
ever means  are  necessary,  Whenever  one  subject  by  abusing  his  freedom  trespasses  upon 
the  rights  or  equal  liberties  of  another,  he  thereby  forfeits  such  liberty  as  he  has  here- 
tofore enjoyed,  and  becomes  amenable  to  the  laws  enacted  for  dependents,  and  by  "-ight 
is  no  longer  permitted  to  be  his  own  master,  free  and  independent,  until  such  time  as 
adequate  punishment  has  again  restored  him  to  self-mastery.  The  man  who  sells  tobacco, 
druo's,  or  alcoholics,  to  another,  is  in  no  way  responsible  for  the  use  and  abuse  to  which 


13(»  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

the  buyer  puts  the  article  bought,  unless  he  has  sold  to  a  dependent,  to  one  who  is  in- 
competent, to  one  whom  he  might  reasonably  know  to  be  irresponsible. 

By  right,  the  seller  of  every  article,  but  especially  all  poisonous  and  dangerous 
articles  which  may  be  easily  abused  to  the  great  injury  of  another,  should  be  held  account- 
able to  the  state  for  selling: 

1.  A  pure  and  genuine  article  as  called  for  by  the  purchaser. 

2.  Only  to  responsible  people.  Therefore,  a  minor,  a  drunkard,  an  idiot,  an 
imbecile,  or  other  irresponsible  person  should  not  be  allowed  to  purchase  any  of 
these  things  which  they  so  readily  abuse  to  their  own,  or  others  serious  injury. 

Noticing  in  the  public  press  recently  an  interview  of  Dr.  Harvey  Wiley,  the  famous 
pure  food  expert,  I  wrote  him  in  part  as  follows: 

"Dr.  Harvey  Wiley,  Government  Food  Expert,  Washington,  D.  C. 

"Dear  Doctor:  I  have  just  been  reading  what  you  say  about  the  cure  for  drunk- 
enness and  as  I  have  been  somewhat  interested  in  this  subject  for  a  number  of  years 
am  glad  to  see  how  nearly  your  remedy  corresponds  with  the  one  I  have  been 
recommending. 

"My  contention  is  that  we  ought  to  allow  every  one  to  have  a  government 
license  who  wishes  to  sell  alcoholic  drinks,  at  a  mere  nominal  figure,  and  then 
we  should  hold  these  responsible  for  just  two  things:  First,  they  should  sell  pure 
liquor.  Second,  they  should  sell  only  to  responsible  parties.  Any  violation  of  either 
of  these  would  at  once  not  only  revoke  their  licences,  but  suitable  punishment  should 
be  given  them  for  violatmg  their  trust. 

"Whenever  a  man  was  in  the  habit  of  drinking  to  the  injury  of  his  family,  it 
would  only  be  necessary  for  the  family  to  notify  those  who  sold  liquor  that  such 
and  such  a  man  was  not  responsible,  in  order  to  keep  them  from  selling  the  liquor 
to  such  persons.     Of  course  children  and  minors  would  not  be  allowed  to  buy. 

"This  would  have  a  beneficial  effect;  it  would  teach  men  that  so  long  as  they 
were  responsible  citizens  and  controlled  themselves  within  the  bound  of  reason  and 
right,  they  were  free  moral  agents,  and  could  drink  or  not  as  they  pleased,  and  when 
they  ceased  to  become  capable  of  controlling  themselves  they  then  became  depen- 
dents and  real  charges  of  the  state. 

"Second,  it  would  put  a  premium  on  a  man  being  temperate  in  his  habits  and 
would  thus  promote  temperance  among  the  rising  generation. 

"Of  course  it  is  well  known  that  alcoholic  drinks  are  adulterated  very  often 
and  the  requiring  of  those  who  handled  and  sold  them,  to  sell  only  pure  liquor 
would  deter  many  from  engaging  in  the  business  or  eliminate  many  of  the  poisonous 
effects  of  the  liquor  now  sold. 

"In  fact  this  course  of  teaching  on  the  temperance  question,  would  put  the 
responsibility  where  it  belongs,  on  the  man  who  sells  for  furnishing  a  pure  article 
and  selling  to  those  who  are  responsible. 

"Second,  it  would  make  the  drinker  responsible  for  the  use,  or  abuse  of  it  in 
his  particular  case.  It  would  thus  develop  a  stronger  personality  and  better  manhood 
in  our  citizens." 

To  which  he  replied  in  part,  as  follows: 

"I  am  glad  you  agree  with  me  in  what  I  hold  as  a  remedy  for  the  evils  of  intox- 
icating beverages.  It  is  very  evident  that  it  is  time  some  steps  were  taken  to  check 
the  ravages  made  every  year  by  this  evil.  The  strictest  purity  of  all  products  of 
this  kind  should  be  insisted  upon,  which  would  do  much  to  lessen  the  evils  of  intem- 
perance. I  am  thoroughly  in  sympathy  with  the  attempts  which  are  made  in  the 
states  to  control  and  regulate  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors.  I  have  not  yet  brought 
myself  to  believe  that  absolute  prohibitory  laws  are  advisable,  and  if  people  are  only 
properly  educated,  and  only  pure,  old,  alcoholic  beverages  are  offered  for  sale,  and 
under  some  such  restrictions  as  I  have  advocated,  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that  each 
individual  should  judge  for  himself  as  to  what  he  shall  eat  and  drink.  Whatever 
laws  should  be  passed,  however,  in  regard  to  licenses,  sale  of  drink  to  minors,  etc., 
should   be    rigidly   enforced." 


TEACH  THE  WHOLE  TRUTH  137 

If  I  might  for  illustration,  I  would  like  to  call  your  attention  to  a  recent  case,  that  of 
Rev.  Richeson,  of  Massachusetts.  According  to  the  newspaper  reports  the  Sanity  Com- 
mission of  doctors  who  examined  him,  found  him  sane;  but  reported  that  his  family 
generally  had  been  affected  with  insanity,  and  that  he  himself  was  a  neurotic  and  a 
neurasthenic.  It  was  also  said  he  smoked  thirty  cigars  one  night  after  midnight,  and  next 
morning  asked  that  his  tobacco  be  replenished.  Here,  evidently,  was  a  man  of  bad  here- 
dity, bad  habits,  bad  morals,  and  a  vicious  organism  for  which  his  ancestors  were  FIRST 
responsible,  and  then  the  STATE  and  finally  himself.  That  is  to  say,  with  his  peculiar 
organism,  born  with  certain  defects,  his  training  and  environment  were  all  the  more 
important.  With  such  a  defective  nervous  system  it  would  have  required  peculiarly  strong 
and  virile  teaching  and  good  habits,  with  most  effective,  helpful  environment  to  develop 
a  character  and  will  power  sufficient  to  avoid  the  many  pitfalls  across  his  pathway,  into 
one  of  which  he  fell.  I  do  not  wish  for  a  moment  to  minimize  the  atrocity  of  his  crime, 
nor  the  personal  responsibility  of  his  enormous  guilt;  but  I  do  wish  to  show  that: 

First,  the  state  should  have  prevented  such  parentage  having  a  progeny,  which 
in  the  very  nature  of  the  case  must  be  defective  and  must  easily  take  on  insanity  or 
crime. 

Second,  having  permitted  the  birth  of  such  a  child,  the  state  owes  it  a  certain 
special  training,  care  and  development,  lest  it  go  astray  in  bad  habits,  which  are 
bound  to  end  in  disaster  to  the  community  in  one  way  or  another. 

Third,  the  sterilization  of  this  child,  C.  V.  Richeson,  would  have  at  least  pre- 
vented the  present   tragedy. 

Fourth,  a  child  well-born  with  good  physical  organism  and  sound  nerve  centers, 
might  have  had  the  same  environment  and  training  as  Richeson,  but  would  not  have 
developed  the  same  bad  habits  and  neurotic  temperament,  nor  would  it  have  com- 
mitted the  crimes  of  which  he  was  guilty. 

Fifth,  it  is  the  high  privilege,  yea,  the  duty  of  each  human  being  to  assume 
personal  responsibility  and  full  accountability  for  his  acts,  and  choose  the  habits, 
course  of  thought  and  study,  calling  in  life  and  favorable  environment  to  bring  about 
the  best  results. 

Sixth.  Therefore,  let  the  state  teach  the  whole  truth  to  the  parents,  the  child, 
the  youth,  the  young  people  and  afford  them  opportunities  under  wise  teachers  and 
judicious  leaders  so  that  they  may  choose  the  right  course  in  life. 

Seventh.  Then  the  boy,  the  girl,  the  young  and  the  old,  knowing  the  truth  about 
themselves,  their  weaknesses,  and  how  to  overcome  these,  their  bent  or  tendency,  and 
how  to  guide  them  aright,  will  more  often  choose  in  harmony  with  reason  and  their 
own   highest   good. 

Eighth.  Therefore  the  state  may  properly  discriminate  in  the  instruction,  train- 
ing and  education  of  its  youth,  for  they  are  not  all  capable  of  being  run  through  the 
same  mould  and  made  to  conform  to  the  same  pattern.  In  short,  there  must  be  special 
instruction,  special  training  and  special  environment  for  special  cases  if  we  would 
get  the  best  results. 

And  just  in  this  connection  I  may  say  that  since  the  state  is  charged  with  the  duty 
of  educating  the  young,  it  may  be  well  to  emphasize  the  fact  that  proper  education  means 
such  knovv'ledge  and  training  as  will  fit  one  for  the  ordinary  duties  of  life  and  give  him 
a  foundation  upon  which  to  build  the  best  character  and  the  most  useful  and  successful 
career  of  which  he  is  capable.     This  may  fairly  include  the  following  essentials: 

1.  Knowledge  of  one's  self:  a.  Whence  he  came,  whither  he  is  going,  b. 
His  physical  organism  and  his  functions,  c.  His  sexual  system,  its  proper  use,  and 
the  awful  dangers  of  its  abuse,  to  himself  and  his  posterity,  d.  Importance  and 
possibility  of  self-m.astery. 

2.  The  reasonable  needs  and  care  of  the  body. 

3.  Duties  of  child  to  parents,  and  to  the  Supreme  Bemg. 

4.  The  ordinary  duties  of  life  and  how  properly  to  discharge  them.  a.  Industrial 
work.    b.  Duties  to  society  and  to  the  state. 

5.  Duty  and  importance  of  making  a  living  in  an  honorable  way,  of  acquiring  a 
competence,  of  being  self-reliant  and  independent,  and  how  to  do  it. 


138  EQUITANIA,    OH    TIIK    LAND   OF   EgUITY 

Lei  me  make  one  point  very  clear  that  I  am  sure  some  do  not  fully  appreciate  even 
though  they  may  talk  very  learnedly  about  some  of  these  questions. 

I  am  not  now  saying  that  the  state  should  prevent  any  marriages  among  the  classes 
of  which  I  have  been  speaking,  for  unfortunately  these  degenerates  do  not  always  wait 
for  marriage  to  propagate  their  kind,  so  that  my  contention  is,  these  people  who  by  right 
should  not  have  progeny  must  be  taken  in  hand  by  the  state  and  sterilized  early  in  their 
lives,  even  before  the  question  of  marriage  arises,  when  possible.  It  is  not  enough  to 
segregate  these  defectives,  for  they  will  sometimes  escape  and  do  the  damage  before  they 
are  re-captured.  And  again,  many  of  these  dependents  who  are  almost  unmanageable 
would  become  docile  and  easily  controlled  if  a  complete  operation  of  castration  or 
oophorectomy  were  done;  but  as  I  said  earlier  in  my  paper  these  more  radical  operations 
are  not  to  be  done  except  as  punishment,  or  when  for  diseased  conditions,  nothing  less 
than  one  of  these  operations  will  suffice. 

The  state  as  well  as  the  church,  or  the  state  without  the  consent  of  any  church  may 
well  require  certificates  of  health  from  candidates  for  marriage,  to  establish  the  followmg 
facts: 

First.     That  neither  party  is  known  to  have  any  disease  transmissible   to  the 

other,  as  venereal  diseases  or  tuberculosis. 

Second.     That  neither  party  has  any  disease  which  is  known  to  be  transmissible 

to  offspring;  or  in  case  either  party  has  such  disability,  or  has  such  hereditary  taint, 

as  insanity,  epilepsey,  etc.,  said  party  has  been  properly  sterilized  and  such  condition 

is  fully  known  to  the  other  party  to  the  marriage  contract. 

Requiring  these  health  certificates  before  marriage,  and  properly  sterilizing  all 
degenerates,  and  those  above  mentioned,  would  do  two  very  important  things: 

First.  It  would  put  a  premium  on  health,  and  it  would  greatly  encourage  all  to 
follow  the  means  within  reach  for  preserving  and  promoting  health. 

Second.  It  would  exalt  and  honor  the  dignity  of  parenthood  and  teach  the 
responsibility  of  parent  to  child,  as  only  one  other  thing  would  do. 

Third.  It  would  preserve  the  health  of  the  generations  to  follow,  in  a  marvelous 
degree. 

Fourth.     It  would  be  an  economic  measure  of  untold  value  to  the  state. 

Fifth.  It  would  mean,  "the  survival  of  the  fittest,"  in  a  physical  sense,  in  a 
civil  sense,  in  an  economic  and  social  view,  if  not  in  a  moral  and  religious  aspect. 

According  to  recent  statistics  from  Washington  it  is  shown  that  there  were  fewer 
suicides  in  the  United  States  in  1910  than  in  1909  but  that  even  so  there  were  in  that  year 
throughout  the  country  16  per  100,000  inhabitants. 

California  led  the  states  with  29  suicides  per  100,000  population,  while  Maryland, 
with  10.3  had  the  lowest  rate. 

In  the  registration  of  over  100,000  population,  San  Francisco  with  44.2  suicides  per 
100,000  led.  Next  came  Kansas  City,  Mo.,  with  34.  Oakland,  Calif.,  with  32.4;  Seattle 
with  32.3;   Bridgeport,  Conn.,  with  32.1  ;   and  Denver  with  31.6. 

The  suicide  rate  per  100,000  population  by  states  was:  California,  29;  Colorado, 
20.3;  Connecticut,  17.9;  Indiana,  14.1;  Maine.  11.4;  Maryland,  10.3;  Massachusetts, 
12.6;  Michigan,  13.7;  Minnesota,  11.6;  Montana,  21.4;  New  Hampshire,  12.5;  New 
Jersey,  17.1;  New  York,  16.7;  North  Carolma,  17.2  (1909);  Ohio,  14.2;  Pennsylvania, 
12.7;  Vermont,  13.2;  Washington,  19.9;  Wisconsin,  14.2. 

The  rate  in  cities  of  100,000  or  over  was,  Birmingham,  Ala.,  20.3;  Los  Angeles,  30; 
Oakland,  32.4;  San  Francisco,  44.2;  Denver,  31.6;  Washington,  24.1;  Atlanta,  14.1; 
Chicago,  20.9;  Indianapolis,  23.9;  Louisville,  16;  New  Orleans,  21.8;  Baltimore,  14.5; 
Boston,  15.3;  Detroit,  26;  Grand  Rapids,  11.5:  Minneapolis,  17.5;  St.  Paul,  13.9; 
Kansas  City.  34;  St.  Louis,  28.9;  Omaha,  24.9;  New  York,  16.4;  Cincinnati,  17.3; 
Cleveland,  18.3;  Columbus,  24.1;  Dayton,  23.1;  Portland,  24.4;  Philadelphia,  19.8; 
Pittsburg,  22.8;  Memphis,  22.8;  Nashville,  18.1  ;  Richmond,  9.4;  Seattle,  32.3;  Spokane, 
23.7;   and  Milwaukee.  23.4. 

Now,  if  we  accept  the  theory,  which  I  think  no  one  acquainted  with  the  general  facts 
can  deny,  that  no  one  ever  commits  suicide  while  sane,  and  that  consequently  every 
suicide  was  at  least  temporarily  insane,  we  must  add  this  number  of  8,500  to  our  list  of 
insane  in  the  United  States. 


DANGERS  OF  HEREDITY  139 

The  government  statistics  further  show  that  in  1910.  with  a  total  population  of 
91,972,266,  and  a  male  population  of  over  21  years  of  age,  January  1st  of  25,577,738, 
that  there  was  an  adult  prison  population  of  109,31  1,  and  there  were  received  during  the 
year,  462,530.  There  were  juvenile  delinquents,  22,903;  paupers  in  almshouses,  83,944; 
admissions  in  1910,  106,457;  insane  in  asylums,  184,123;  committed  during  the  year, 
59,628;  in  feeble  minded  institutions,  20,199;  admitted  during  the  year  3,848. 
Or,  to  put  it  differently  we  had  in  1910: 

A  criminal  population  of    571,841 

Dependents  in  almhouses    190,401 

Insane  in  asylums    243,751 

Juvenile   delinquents    22,903 

Feeble-minded  dependents 24,047 

Or  a  total  of    ' 1 ,052,943 

And  when  we  add  the  suicides,  8,500.  and  include  them  in  the  insane  class 
where  they  belong,  we  have  a  total  of  1,061,443. 

This  means  we  have  one  criminal  or  other  degenerate  or  defective  for  every  90 
persons  in  our  land,  including  women  and  children.  And  whilst  this  is  not  a  large 
percentage  of  the  whole  people,  and  more  than  half  the  number  is  of  the  criminal  class, 
still  it  shows  that  290,791,  or  more  than  one-fourth  of  the  whole  number  are  real 
defectives  and  many  of  them  belong  to  the  preventable  diseases  or  preventable  degenerates 
by  a  wise,  humane  and  just  method  of  sterilization. 

It  is  said  that  male  suicide  in  Germany  has  gradually  mcreased  until  it  has  just  about 
reached  a  normal  level  at  which  it  remains  of  about  35  per  100,000  population;  while  that 
of  German  women  is  still  increasing. 

I  have  just  returned  from  the  great  meeting  of  the  American  Medical  Association  in 
Atlantic  City,  where  a  very  interesting  and  important  paper  was  read,  confirming  in  an 
additional  way  the  foregoing  facts.  This  paper  was  read  by  Dr.  F.  A.  MacNicoll,  of  New 
York.     Among  other  things  he  says: 

"Within  a  period  of  fifty  years  the  population  of  the  United  States  increased 
330  per  cent  according  to  the  recent  census,  practically  all  of  which  is  due  to  the 
chronic  and  excessive  use  of  alcohol  in  one  form  or  other,  and  narcotics.  A 
degenercy  so  appalling  in  magnitude  that  it  staggers  the  mind  and  threatens  to 
destroy  this  republic,  numbering  more  victims  than  have  been  slain  in  all  the  wars 
and  in  all  the  epidemics  and  acute  diseases  that  have  swept  the  country  within  two 
hundred  years. 

"The  great  burden  of  drink  is  not  borne  by  the  drinker,  but  by  the  drinker's 
children.  The  germ  cell  that  is  to  be  involved  into  another  bein^  is  the  most 
highly  organized  of  all  the  cells  in  the  body.  In  its  protoplasm  lies  the  material  and 
pattern  of  the  perfected  organism." 

I  may  then  fairly  conclude : 

First.     Parents  may  and  do  transmit  physical  weakness  to  their  offspring. 

Second.  Some  physical  weaknesses  and  degenerations  which  are  so  transmitted 
come  from  ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  parents. 

Third.  The  most  important  asset  of  every  nation  is  its  people,  and  therefore 
the  health  of  its  subjects  is  a  proper  and  pressing  duty  for  the  state  to  consider, 
and  as  far  as  possible  conserve. 

Fourth.  Prevention  of  disease  in  its  subjects  is  both  more  economical  and 
humane  for  the  state  than  their  cure. 

Fifth.  The  investigation  of  the  facts  about  the  excessive  use  of  alcohol,  tobacco, 
and  other  drugs,  as  well  as  the  dangers  of  such  parents  transmitting  epilepsy,  insanity 
and  other  nervous  defects  to  their  offspring,  and  the  causes  so  far  as  we  can  ascertain 
them,  of  all  classes  of  physical  degenerates  and  defectives,  together  with  the  widest 
publicity  of  the  same  by  the  proper  authorities  of  the  State  University  and  the  State 
Board  of  Health  is  a  duty  of  the  state. 

Sixth.  As  an  educational  measure,  and  as  a  safeguard,  the  state  may  very 
well  require  either  health  certificates  for  all  who  would  marry,  or  at  least  proper 
sterilization  of  such  as  cannot  produce  suitable  health  certificates. 


140  EQUlTxVXIA,   OK   Tilt:   LAND   OF  EQUITY 

Seventh.  Sterilization,  both  as  an  educational  and  as  a  suitable  preventive 
measure,  of  all  her  insane,  epiliptic,  and  degenerates,  which  would  also  include 
their  inebriates  and  other  habitual  drug  users,  is  a  duty  of  the  state  which  she  ought 
not  to  shirk. 

Having  covered  the  ground  thus  fully  we  recommend  these  four  papers  as  the  ground 
and  basis  for  establishing  a  course  of  study  upon  the  sex  question  and  believe  they  might 
be  wisely  used  to  direct  legislation  for  the  prevention  of  the  Social  Evil  and  the  accom- 
panying diseases.  r,  ,  ,,        i     •      i  i     i-     •       •       /^ 

Kespectrully  submitted  by  Lquitanian  Lommittee, 

Signed:       H.  0.  RETTAN,  M.  D. 
R.  0.  HENDLEY,  M.  D. 
H.  R.  ORLANDO,  M.  D. 

Thus  you  see  as  these  writers  here  have  so  well  shown,  proper  education  along 
sexual  and  health  lines  gives  vastly  more  useful  instruction  and  training  for  the  develop- 
ment of  character  and  useful  citizenship  than  would  at  first  appear. 

The  implanting  of  right  desires,  true  motives,  and  the  cultivation  of  self-mastery 
and  the  power  of  self-control  is  not  only  valuable  and  really  essential  for  any  adequate 
progress  in  sex  morality,  but  is  equally  important  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  all  moral 
growth. 

There  must  be  first  right  thoughts,  then  comes  right  desires,  then  follows  right 
acts,  habits,  character  and  finally  destiny,  all  of  which  must  come  from  a  basis  of  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth  which  is  eternal. 

Rev.  Jones — That  is  certainly  very  interesting,  but  are  you  not  attaching  too  much 
importance  to  the  moral  questions  in  the  educational  system?  Should  morals  and 
religion  not  go  together  and  be  taught  more  by  representatives  of  the  various  religious 
sects,  and  confine  the  duties  of  the  teachers  more  strictly  to  educational  matters  as  we  do 
in  the  United  States? 

Sylvester — That  same  question  occurred  to  me  as  you  were  elucidating  the  sex 
problem  and  the  moral  side  so  well.  Here  in  our  country  not  much  is  done  or  taught 
along  these  lines  in  our  public  institutions,  and  I  think  we  get  along  very  well.  Our 
country  is  exceedingly  prosperous,  has  grown  beyond  all  other  countries  in  the  world, 
is  at  peace  with  all  mankind,  and  I  can  see  no  reason  for  deviating  from  our  present 
course. 

Horace — The  Equitanians  take  the  ground  which  I  think  is  impregnable,  that  civil 
government  has  to  do  with  earthly  or  civil  affairs,  and  whilst  it  ought  to  allow  all  of 
its  citizens  absolute  freedom  in  matters  of  religion,  yet  if  men  are  to  be  closely  associated 
and  unite  in  all  matters  for  their  mutual  material  welfare,  then  they  ought  to  have  a 
common  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  of  duties  and  obligations  to  one  another  in 
temporal  affairs. 

They  have  a  common  standard  of  weights  and  measures,  of  spelling,  of  definition  of 
words,  of  money  values,  and  these  being  the  lesser  things,  they  should  also  have  a  common 
standard  in  the  weightier  and  more  important  thing,  namely,  morality,  or  the  proper 
dealings  of  man  with  man. 

Therefore  they  agreed  upon  the  essential  things  which  men  as  intelligent  and  rational 
beings  should  observe  toward  one  another,  and  embodied  them  and  them  only  in  their 
moral  code,  and  then  rightly  insisted  that  together  they  could  best  develop  the  high  type 
of  citizens  desired  for  their  land  by  inculcating  these  principles  in  the  youth  and  holding 
to  their  high  ideals  in  the  entire  public  and  private  life. 

Professor  Johnson — That  is  certainly  well  worth  considering,  and  I  am  delighted  to 
learn  that  it  is  working  well  in  every-day  practical  life. 

Robert — I  am  delighted  with  this  evening's  entertainment,  when  can  we  hear  more 
about  this  wonderful  land  and  people? 

Horace — It  is  now  quite  late  and  I  suggest  that  you  come  next  Thursday  and  meet 
with  a  newspaper  friend  of  mine  who  is  anxious  to  hear  about  journalism  over  there  and 
I  have  agreed  to  tell  him  something  about  it  at  that  time.  I  have  also  a  doctor  friend 
who  is  anxious  to  know  about  the  professions,  and  the  professional  schools.  Perhaps 
we  can  take  up  some  points  about  all  of  these. 

All — That  will  be  delightful  and  we  shall  be  here  in  good  time.  Good  night. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


DOCTORS,  LAWYERS,  AND  JOURNALISTS,  ETC. 

According  to  appointment,  all  the  parties  of  the  previous  evening  and  Dr.  Brown,  a 
prominent  physician,  and  editor  Larned  of  the  leadmg  daily  paper  of  the  city,  came 
together  anxious  to  hear  the  facts,  and  yet  rather  skeptical  as  to  the  fairy  tales  reported 
from  this  far-away  land.  After  a  formal  introduction,  and  all  being  at  ease,  they  were 
anxious  for  the  reports  to  begin. 

Horace — You  may  remember  that  John  Locke,  the  noted  philosopher  said,  "A  sound 
mind  in  a  sound  body,  is  a  short  but  full  description  of  a  happy  state  in  this  world. 
He  who  has  these  two  has  little  more  to  wish  for;  and  he  that  wants  either  of  them,  will 
be  but  little  the  better  for  enything  else.  Man's  happiness  or  misery  is  most  part  of  their 
own  making.  He  whose  mind  directs  not  wisely,  will  never  take  the  right  way.  I 
think  I  may  say,  that  of  the  men  we  meet  with,  nine  parts  of  ten  are  what  they  are,  good 
or  evil,  useful  or  not,  by  their  education.  The  great  thing  to  be  minded  in  education  is, 
what  habits  you  settle. 

"The  great  principle  and  foundation  of  all  virtue  and  worth  is  placed  in  this;  that  a 
man  is  able  to  deny  himself  his  own  desires,  cross  his  own  inclinations,  and  purely  follow 
what  reason  directs  as  best,  though  the  appetite  lean  the  other  way. 

"He  that  is  not  used  to  submit  his  will  to  the  reason  of  others  when  he  is  young,  will 
scarce  hearken  or  submit  to  his  own  reason  when  he  is  of  an  age  to  make  use  of  it.  And 
what  kind  of  a  man  one  is  likely  to  prove,  is  easy  to  foresee.  For  if  the  child  must  have 
grapes  or  sugar  plums  when  he  has  a  mind  to  them,  rather  than  make  the  poor  baby  cry 
or  be  out  of  humor;  why,  when  he  is  grown  up,  must  he  not  be  satisfied  too,  if  his  desires 
carry  him  to  wine  or  women? 

"Every  man  must  some  time  or  other  be  trusted  to  himself  and  his  own  conduct,  and 
he  that  is  a  good,  a  virtuous  and  noble  man,  must  be  made  so  within.  And  therefore  what 
he  is  to  receive  from  education,  what  is  to  sway  and  influence  his  life,  must  be  something 
put  into  him  betimes;  habits  woven  into  the  very  principles  of  his  nature. 

"  Tis  virtue,  then,  direct  virtue,  which  is  the  hard  and  valuable  part  to  be  aimed  at  in 
education." 

And  whether  or  not  we  agree  with  him  in  toto,  I  am  sure  we  must  admit 
there  is  much  truth  too  often  neglected  in  these  teachings  of  the  great  man.  One  of  your 
recent  writers  has  spoken  so  wisely  upon  the  question  of  the  high  ideals  of  man  in  the 
various  callings  in  life,  as  they  are  practically  illustrated  in  Equitania  and  these  words 
are  so  apropos  to  our  present  discussion  I  hope  you  will  permit  me  to  read  what  he  says. 

Office  holders  from  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  Judges  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  on  down  through  governors,  legislators,  mayors,  city  councilmen.  justices  of  the 
peace,  and  policeman,  are  all  first  responsible  to  God  for  the  manner  in  which  they 
discharge  their  official  duties;  second,  they  are  responsible  to  all  the  people  over  whom 
they  exercise  any  authority;  third,  they  are  next  responsible  to  their  party  or  person  who 
gave  them  the  position  of  responsibility.  If  this  order  of  sequence  were  maintamed  and 
conscientiously  acted  upon  how  quickly  would  our  political  atmosphere  be  clarified. 

So,  too,  with  a  lawyer  when  he  takes  a  client,  whether  as  an  individual,  as  a  corpora- 
tion, or  as  a  state,  he  is  not  first  responsible  to  his  client  and  then  to  the  community,  but 
he  is  first  responsible  to  God  for  the  way  in  which  he  treats  the  community  and  his  client. 
His  end  and  aim,  his  objective  ought  to  be  to  promote  equity  and  justice  in  the  community, 
so  that  it  will  meet  the  Divine  approval.  And  it  is  the  lack  of  this  true  objective  so  many 
times  that  leads  lawyers  to  trample  upon  the  rights  of  others,  by  every  hook  or  crook,  by 
every  means  fair  or  foul,  by  unfair  use  of  technicalities,  and  even  by  getting  perjured  wit- 
nesses or  a  bribed  jury;  his  great  aim  and  object  being  to  clear  his  client,  regardless  of 

(141) 


142  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

equity  and  justice,  and  no  matter  what  means  are  used.  Just  as  the  object  of  the  true  phy- 
sician is,  and  ought  to  be,  to  promote  the  heahh  of  the  community  with  a  consciousness  of 
his  accountabihty  first  to  the  Almighty,  and  second  to  the  community  and  third  to  his 
patient,  so  with  the  lawyer  the  same  order  should  be  observed.  Just  as  it  is  with  the  minister 
of  the  gospel.  His  object  ought  to  be  to  promote  Godlikeness  or  Godliness  in  the  community 
by  the  new  created  heart,  in  the  individual,  and  then  by  proper  religious  instruction 
develop  Christian  character.  And  he  is  first  accountable  to  God  for  the  methods  and  plans 
he  uses,  then  he  is  responsible  to  the  community,  and  third  he  is  accountable  to  his  partic- 
ular church,  or  those  who  employ  him.  Just  so  the  journalist  whether  editor  of  a;  daily 
paper,  a  weekly  paper,  or  magazine,  he  is  first  responsible  to  God  for  the  things  he 
publishes  and  advocates,  second  he  is  accountable  to  the  community  at  large,  and  third 
he  is  responsible  to  his  subscribers  and  advertisers.  Speaking  of  advertisers  reminds  me 
too  that  the  proprietor  of  the  magazine  or  paper  is  first  responsible  to  God  for  the  kind 
of  things  he  advertises,  second  he  is  accountable  to  the  community,  and  third  to  his 
employers. 

We  might  go  through  every  profession,  trade  or  calling  and  thus  show  that  the 
individual  is  first,  and  always  responsible  and  accountable  to  God  for  his  life,  his  work, 
and  all  of  his  actions,  and  that  the  greater  he  becomes,  the  more  wide-spread  his  influence 
and  the  larger  his  sphere  of  opportunity  in  the  world,  the  more  important  it  is  that  he 
recognize  these  responsibilities  in  their  proper  relations.  The  fact  that  a  man  has  shown 
ability,  and  a  corporation  or  his  fellow  men  have  selected  or  chosen  him  to  work  for  or 
represent  them,  in  no  way  changes  the  order  of  his  accountability  as  shown  above,  but 
rather  intensifies  it;  for  "Every  one  of  us  shall  give  account  of  himself  to  God,"  and  no 
juggling  of  facts,  no  greatness  of  position,  no  higher  education,  and  no  mere  shrewdness 
of  business  or  policy  can  shift  or  change  the  individual  responsibility. 

It  seems  to  me  that  lawyers  and  our  courts  are  too  often  trained  to  look  carefully  into 
the  precedents  of  legal  practice,  to  familiarize  themselves  with  the  exact  wording  of  the 
law  and  its  multitudinous  variety  of  interpretations,  all  the  possible  weak  points,  loop 
holes  and  technical  possibility  of  evasion  to  enable  them  to  make  a  case,  gain  a  point  in 
the  interest  of  their  clint,  or  against  their  opponents,  and  in  total  disregard  of  justice  or 
equity  and  right.  In  other  words  their  whole  view  point  is  how  can  I  gain  my  point;  when 
it  ought  to  be  how  can  I  best  promote  justice  and  secure  right  dealing  among  men  before 
the  law  and  in  the  community.  Hence  it  too  often  follows  that  the  Judge  on  the  bench 
rules  according  to  mere  precedent,  or  upon  some  strained  or  technical  point,  wholly 
forgetting  that  the  end  of  the  entire  proceeding  should  be  to  promote  justice  and  establish 
equity,  no  matter  what  minor,  subservient,  and  useless  things  stand  in  the  way.  No  careful 
observer  of  reasonable  experience  but  knows  that  time  and  again  injustice  is  done  to 
individuals  and  to  communities  by  courts  ruling  unfairly  upon  some  trival  technicality  or 
according  to  some  antiquated  precedent,  thus  showing  more  respect  for  these  legal 
stumbling  blocks  of  fraud  than  for  the  rights  of  man. 

The  aim  and  end  should  be  justice,  equity,  and  right,  between  man  and  man;  while 
human  rights  should  ever  be  above  property  rights. 

Governor  Hadley  of  Missouri,  speaking  to  the  graduates  of  the  Northwestern  Univer- 
sity very  wisely  and  truthfully  said  (and  speaking  just  then  specially  to  the  graduates  in 
law)  :  "There  is  not  a  business  enterprise  which  conducts  its  business  in  violation  of  the 
law,  that  has  not  had  the  service  of  a  lawyer,  skilled  in  the  art  of  law  evasion  and  the  art 
of  non-disclosure,  whose  abilities  in  that  regard  have  recommended  him  for  such  employ- 
ment. No  lawyer  has  a  right  to  advise  an  individual  or  a  corporation  how  to  violate  the 
law.  Any  lawyer  who  does  so  is  as  much  an  offender  against  the  law  as  the  person  or 
corporation  whom  he  serves.  If  the  lawyers  of  this  country  would  refuse  to  advise  persons 
or  corporations  how  to  violate  the  law  with  impunity  and  how  to  conduct  their  business 
so  that  evidence  of  their  wrong  doing  could  not  be  secured,  then  much  of  that  which  the 
public  justly  complains  would  cease  to  exist." 

A  prominent  writer  in  the  United  States  has  made  and  apparently  proved  to  the 
satisfaction  of  the  general  public  the  following  public  charges  against  Judges  and  Courts: 
"That  courts  have  been  packed  in  order  to  render  decisions  favorable  to  certain 
corporations. 


CORRUPTION  OF  COURTS  143 

"That  judicial  opinions  of  our  highest  courts  have  been  written  in  the  offices 
of  the  legal  departments  of  railroads  and  other  corporations. 

"Corrupt  federal  judges  use  their  power  to  loot  prosperous  concerns  to  the 
financial  advantage  of  judicial  rings. 

"Many  judges  feel  themselves  high  priests  and  sincerely  believe  that  all  crit- 
icism of  courts  is  unholy  and  heretical. 

"Many  of  them  are  political  henchmen  with  whom  public  morals  are  a  cynic 
jest. 

"They  have  pared  and  twisted  the  law  for  the  protection  of  a  favored  few. 

"This  corruption  of  our  courts  pervades  every  section  of  our  country. 

"It  is  becoming  more  and  more  difficult  for  the  poor  man  to  get  a  decision  against 
a  corporation. 

"The  influence  of  corporation  lawyers  over  courts  has  demoralized  the  legal 
profession. 

"Corrupt  decisions  have  crept  mto  the  law  and  become  a  part  of  it,  and  in 
some  communities  have  poisoned  the  entire  judicial  system," 

A  lawyer  of  considerable  note  and  one  who  has  written  a  pamphlet  on  "Crime  and 
Criminals"  says,  "There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  crime,  as  the  word  is  generally  understood. 
I  do  not  believe  there  is  any  sort  of  distinction  between  the  real  moral  condition  of 
the  people  in  and  out  of  jail.  One  is  just  as  good  as  the  other.  I  do  not  believe  that 
people  are  in  jail  because  they  deserve  to  be.  They  are  in  jail  simply  because  they  can- 
not avoid  it  on  account  of  circumstances  which  are  entirely  beyond  their  control  and  for 
which  they  are  in  no  way  responsible." 

I  quote  this  simply  to  show  why  in  the  United  States,  crime  is  so  largely  on  the' 
increase,  while  in  Equitania  no  such  false  and  erroneous  doctrine  is  taught  by  any  in- 
telligent person,  much  less  by  lawyers  w^o,  there,  are  looked  upon  as  the  promoters  of 
justice,  and  who  would  no  more  help  a  client  big  or  little  to  evade  the  laws,  defraud  the 
pubHc  or  escape  justice  than  their  physicians  would  seek  to  spread  disease  in  the  com- 
munity. No  wonder  a  leading  editorial  in  one  of  your  daily  papers  said  after  California 
had  adopted  the  Recall,  "Faithless,  incompetent  or  corrupt  officials  in  executive  de- 
partments, legislative  halls,  and  even  in  courts  of  justice  again  and  again  have  been 
servants  of  greedy  interests  avariciously  devoted  to  the  exploitation  of  the  people.  En- 
trenched behind  their  fixed  tenures  of  office,  they  have  derided  the  indignation  of  the 
public  they  betrayed.  Hereafter,  possessing  the  power  of  the  recall,  the  people  will  ever 
be  the  masters  of  the  servants  who  often  have  been  their  masters." 

They  have  a  very  unique  system  in  Equitania  for  securing  justice  among  the 
people.     Their  whole  system  of  jurisprudence  is  built  upon  the  propositions: 

First;  That  governments  are  instituted  among  men  for  their  mutual  helpfulness, 
to  secure  to  them  their  natural  rights,  to  protect  them  in  their  persons  and  their  possess- 
sions. 

Second;  That  all  laws  should  be  framed,  interpreted  and  executed  to  compass  these 
ends,  and  that  equity  and  justice  should  be  meted  out  to  all.  and  special  favors  granted 
to  none,  and  that  no  person  or  class  is  entitled  to  favors  at  the  expense  of  any  other 
person  or  class;  and  that  all  legal  proceedings  should  be  fairly  conducted  to  promptly 
bring  these  results,  and  that  whatever  stands  in  the  way  must  be  brushed  aside  as  ob- 
structions and  detrimental  to  the  welfare  of  the  individual  and  the  state.  Hence.  Judges 
are  appointed  or  elected  not  from  the  legal  profession,  but  from  the  intelligent,  sen- 
sible, level-headed  men  of  the  community,  who  are  known  for  their  probity,  fair  mind- 
edness  and  good  common  sense;  and  they  are  honored  in  proportion  to  their  fidelity  to 
the  interests  of  the  people. 

These  judges,  like  all  other  officers,  are  subject  to  the  people  themselves  and  may 
be  continued  or  recalled  at  their  behest,  whose  servants  they  are. 

The  procedure  in  court  is  very  different,  too,  from  what  it  is  in  most  countries. 
It  being  the  object  and  aim  of  the  court  to  establish  justice  and  maintain  equity,  the 
Judge  himself  ascertains  the  facts  and  questions  the  witnesses  to  get  the  facts.  And 
at  his  own  suggestion,  or  that  of  attorneys,  on  either  side,  may  summon  other  \s-itnesses. 
or  do  whatever  else  in  his  opinion  may  aid  him  in  getting  all  the  facts  in  the  case  to 
enable  him  to  give  an  honest,  fair,  and  unbiased  judgment. 


144  equitan;a,  or  the  land  of  equity 

The  lawyers  are  not  allowed  ordinarily  to  question  the  witnesses,  it  being  their 
function  simply  to  procure  the  witnesses,  and  state  to  the  Court  what  each  is  supposed 
to  know  about  the  case  in  hand,  and  then  after  the  Judge  has  carefully  questioned  the 
witnesses  on  oath  in  open  court  until  all  evidence  is  introduced,  the  lawyers  on  both  sides 
proceed  to  their  arguments  based  upon  the  facts  elicited,  and  cite  the  law  upon  which 
they  base  their  claims  for  their  respective  clients.  After  which  the  judge  duly  weighs 
the  evidence,  and  reviews  the  law  as  cited,  and  decides,  or  renders  a  righteous  judg- 
ment, which  gives  Equity  to  all  concerned. 

Mere  technicalities,  and  wandering  fine  spun  theories  or  even  well  established  pre- 
cedent, no  matter  how  hoary  with  age  are  not  given  any  consideration  unless  they 
directly  tend  to  the  promotion  of  justice  and  equity. 

A  sufhcient  number  of  judges  are  elected  or  appointed  to  give  prompt  hearing  on  all 
cases,  and  in  delicate  or  extra  important  cases,  may  have  two  or  even  three  to  hear  them. 
In  all  cases,  however,  the  procedure  is  the  same  and  they  have  no  jury  system,  which 
they  regard  as  wholly  unnecessary,  since  by  the  above  plan  fair  dealing  and  right  be- 
tween all  parties  concerned  is  so  quickly  and  surely  obtained. 

They  say  that  it  being  desired  to  get  at  the  real  facts  in  every  case,  the  Judge 
who  is  rightly  chosen  to  be  the  unbiased  referee  in  all  cases,  is  the  only  person  who  is 
likely  to  give  every  witness  a  fair  chance  to  tell  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  and  therefore  he  is  the  one  to  ask  the  questions  of  the  witnesses  presented, 
and  is  least  likely  to  embarrass,  intimidate  or  bulldoze  a  witness  into  fraudulent  or  mis- 
leading testimony.  In  this  way  they  do  not  allow  prejudice  or  sentiment  to  interfere 
with  justice,  nor  do  they  allow  the  sharpest,  shrewdest,  and  trickiest  lawyer  to  win  his 
case  regardless  of  the  real  facts  and  true  evidence.  In  fact  this  method  almost  wholly 
eliminates  the  shyster  lawyer,  and  rnakes  him  engage  in  some  honest  and  useful  employ- 
ment. 

You  will  be  interested  in  knowing  how  they  define  and  classify  violations  of  law. 

1 .  Sin  is  the  wilful  violation  or  transgression  of  any  law  of  God. 

2.  Crime  is  the  wilful  violation  of  any  one  of  the  moral  laws. 

3.  Misdemeanor  is  any  wilful  violation  of  one  of  the  civil  laws. 

4.  Offense  is  any  ignorant  or  careless  violation  of  a  moral  or  civil  law. 

5.  Vice  is  a  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  sexual  system,  other  than  adultery. 

6.  Slander  is  wilfully  repeating  or  circulating  in  any  manner  untruthful  state- 
ments derogatory  to  the  good  name  or  reputation  of  another. 

7.  Libel  is  wilfully  publishing  any  false  statements  derogatory  to  the  good 
name  of  another,  when  reasonable  investigation  and  effort  could  have  corrected  the 
false  report. 

In  the  United  States  it  has  too  long  been  notorious  that  a  lawyer  will  take  one  side 
of  almost  any  case  just  as  quickly  as  the  other,  provided  the  inducements  are  sufficient, 
that  is  if  the  fee  is  large  enough,  or  possible  future  position,  and  fight  just  as  hard  to 
clear  the  man  who  is  guilty,  as  he  would  have  fought  to  convict  him  if  he  had  been 
employed  upon  the  other  side. 

He  ignores  justice,  equity,  right  and  fairness  between  the  men,  or  the  men  and 
the  corporations,  and  looks  only  to  clear  or  convict  regardless  of  the  right.  The  public 
must  not  tolerate  this  infamy. 

In  the  Drama,  Egmont,  written  by  Goethe  1775,  to  depict  the  Spanish  reign  of 
Philip  the  Second,  and  the  character  of  the  Netherlanders  with  the  scene  in  Brussels, 
1567  he  makes  one  of  his  characters,  Vansen,  say  of  the  law  and  the  courts  of  justice. 

"In  the  world  the  rogue  has  everyAvhere  the  advantage.  At  the  bar  he  makes  a  fool 
of  the  Judge;  on  the  bench  he  takes  pleasure  in  convicting  the  accused.  I  have  had 
to  copy  out  a  protocol,  where  the  commissary  was  handsomely  rewarded  by  the  court, 
both  with  praise  and  money,  because  through  his  cross  eximination,  an  honest  devil, 
against  whom  they  had  a  grudge,  was  made  out  to  be  a  rogue." 

And  then  in  further  response  to  the  remark  of  a  citizen  he  replies: 

"Oh,  you  blockhead!    XX'Tien  nothing  can  be  worked  out  of  a  man  by  cross 

examination,    they    work    it    into    him.      Honesty    is    rash,    and    withall    somewhat 

presumptuous;    at  first  they  question  quietly  enough,   and   the  prisoner,  proud  of 

his  innocence,  as  they  call  it,  comes  out  with  much  that  a  sensible  man  would  keep 


CROOKED  LAWYERS  145 

back.  Then,  from  these  answers  the  inquisitor  proceeds  to  put  new  questions,  and 
is  on  the  watch  for  the  slightest  contradiction;  there  he  fastens  his  Hne;  and,  let 
the  poor  devil  lose  his  self-possession,  say  too  much  here,  or  too  little  there,  or 
Heaven  knows  from  what  whim  or  other,  let  him  withhold  some  trifling  circum- 
stance, or  at  any  moment  give  way  to  fear,  then  we're  on  the  right  track,  and,  I 
assure  you,  no  beggar-woman  seeks  rags  among  the  rubbish  with  more  care  than 
such  a  fabricator  of  rogues,  from  trifling,  crooked,  disjointed,  misplaced,  misprinted, 
and  concealed  facts  and  information,  acknowledged  or  denied,  endeavors  at  length 
to  patch  up  a  scarecrow,  by  means  of  which  he  may  at  least  hang  his  victim  in 
effigy;  and  the  poor  devil  may  thank  heaven  if  he  is  in  a  condition  to  see  him- 
self hanged." 

No  wonder  the  people  rise  up  at  times  and  protest  by  mob  violence  against  such 
infamous  outrages  as  are  thus  too  often  perpetrated  by  lawyers  and  judges  upon  the 
innocent  and  helpless.  It  is  not  so  much  the  occasional  criminal  as  it  is  these  vile 
wretches  who  are  constantly  perverting  justice  and  must  eventually  be  suppressed  by 
public  opinion. 

If  the  Courts  are  really  worthy  of  respect  and  are  trying  to  give  the  people  justice, 
why  do  they  so  uniformly  allow  a  bullying  lawyer  to  terrify  witnesses?  Why  do  they 
let  these  unprincipled  lawyers  deliberately  try  to  prevent  witnesses  from  telling  the  truth? 
Why  do  they  allow  these  shysters  to  encourage  witnesses  and  lawyers  to  deliberately 
bear  false  testimony  and  seek  by  every  device  known  to  trickery  and  chicanery  to  tell 
everything  but  the  truth  and  evade  all  the  possible  avenues  of  getting  at  the  truth?  It  is 
notorious  that  the  Court  seldom,  if  ever,  steps  in  to  protect  a  witness,  who  is  trying 
to  tell  the  truth,  from  these  bulldozing  attacks  of  unprincipled  lawyers. 

Why  do  the  Courts,  if  they  are  trying  to  promote  justice  and  secure  the  rights  of 
all,  make  their  rulings  so  often  along  lines  of  great  technicality,  and  follow  so  closely 
custom,  precedent  and  forms  of  procedure,  rather  than  the  rules  of  equity? 

Why  do  they  not  brush  away  all  foolish,  immaterial  and  irrelevant  facts,  or  points 
which  stand  in  the  way  of  justice  and  make  straight  for  the  goal? 

The  coufts  too  often  get  lost  in  their  wanderings  among  these  minor  details,  and 
in  their  effort  to  follow  out  these  points  very  carefully,  shrewdly  and  elaborately,  lose 
sight  entirely  of  the  aim  and  object  of  courts,  thus  making  regularity,  precedent,  cus- 
tom, techanicalities  and  the  intricacies  of  law  paramount  to  justice,  fairness  and  right. 
They  magnify  the  less  important  and  minimize  the  most  important.  Having  undue 
respect  for  law  and  custom  they  undervalue  the  importance  of  right  and  justice.  It  is 
for  these  reasons  the  people  have  come  to  hold  the  courts  in  contempt  and  are  daily 
growing  more  and  more  restless  under  the  unjust  rule  of  this  oligarchy  of  crooked 
lawyers. 

This  is  not  saying  there  are  not  honest  lawyers;  but  the  honest  and  capable  ones 
are  so  hopelessly  in  the  minority  that  they  cannot  correct  the  evil. 

The  honest  lawyer  who  would  dare  come  out  openly  and  rebuke  the  known  corrup- 
tion of  any  given  court  would  not  only  be  hooted  down  by  the  overwhelming  majority  of 
his  associates,  but  the  court  would  probably  put  him  in  contempt,  and  at  least  give  him  no 
chance  in  any  case  that  said  lawyer  would  ever  have  occasion  to  try  before  him. 

No,  the  courts  and  the  lawyers  are  a  close  monopolistic  corporation  of  the  most 
tyrannical  type,  and  the  decent  men  in  it  can  neither  correct  it,  nor  escape  from  its 
venomous  fangs.  .The  correction  must  come  from  the  outside,  and  that  by  a  general 
demand  from  the  people  that  they  themselves  will  take  the  making  and  interpreting  of 
laws  into  their  own  hands  and  determine  what  they  want  the  laws  to  mean,  and  how  they 
shall  be  executed  to  meet  the  demands  of  justice.  We  have  too  long  allowed 
the  lawyers  to  make,  interpret,  and  execute  our  laws.  We  ourselves  as  a  people  know 
better  than  lawyers  or  judges,  (who  have  been  carefully  trained  to  look  at  all  these  ques- 
tions from  the  narrow  standpoint  of  the  selfish  lawyer),  what  is  fair  and  just  and  right,  and 
therefore  we  must  make,  and  interpret,  that  is  explain  what  we  mean  by  any  given  law, 
and  we  ourselves  must  say  how  that  law  is  to  be  executed  and  its  penalties  meted  out. 

The  lawyers  may  rightly  be  allowed  to  have  their  say  in  each  case,  just  as  any  other 
citizen,  but  they  should  have  no  more  right  or  authority  in  the  final  decision  than  any 


140  EQUITAXIA.   ()\<   TUK   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

other  man.     As  it  is  now,  the  lawyer  has  the  final  say  in  making,  interpreting,  and  execut- 
ing our  laws  and  the  rest  of  us  have  no  voice  in  it  at  all. 

It  is  if  we  were  to  admit  that  we,  the  people,  know  nothing  of  our  rights,  or  what 
our  duties  and  relations  to  our  fellow  men  are,  and  that  the  lawyers  know  it  all.  Whereas 
the  fact  is  that  the  people,  when  the  facts  are  put  before  them,  are  much  more  likely  to 
give  justice  than  the  ordinary  group  of  lawyers  or  corrupt  courts. 

Therefore  we  insist  upon  the  people  themselves  being  the  final  judges,  and  not  the 
lawyers  and  courts.  Let  the  poeple  make,  interpret,  and  execute  their  laws,  and  we  will 
have  greater  justice  among  men. 

It  is  notorious  that  no  crime  is  so  great  that  some  lawyer  cannot  be  found  who  will 
try  to  clear  the  criminal.  No  great  corporation  or  big  busmess  has  ever  sought  to  violate 
the  laws  of  the  land,  but  some  one  or  more  promment  lawyers  have  been  found  as  the 
guiding  star  in  the  nefarious  business.  Every  great  business  concern  which  has  tried  to 
defraud  the  public  through  trickery  and  sharp  practice  has  been  steered  and  engineered 
by  a  lawyer.  Strange,  but  true,  every  devious  pathway  of  all  the  crooked  concerns  in 
this  country  have  been  fostered,  nurtured,  and  led  by  a  more  crooked  attorney,  and  yet 
they  are  seldom  or  never  brought  to  justice,  but  foolishly  enough  this  is  considered  a 
legitimate  part  of  their  business,  for  these  crooked  concerns  are  their  clients  and  they 
have  been  hired,  forsooth,  and  must  be  true  to  the  clients,  even  when  they  know  them 
to  be  disreputable  and  working  for  the  ruin  of  the  community. 

So  long  as  society  is  willing  to  tolerate  a  class  (call  them  lawyers  or  any  other  name 
you  please)  who  by  reason  of  their  calling  are  rightly  allowed  to  help  criminals  escape 
justice;  and  set  free  those  who  ought  to  be  convicted  and  punished,  and  you  will  en- 
courage crime  and  all  sorts  of  misdemeanors.  It  means  that  the  bigger  the  criminal, 
the  bigger  fee  he  is  willing  to  pay  and  the  higher  priced  the  attorney  he  will  employ,  and 
hence  the  more  profitable  to  the  attorneys  is  this  class  of  business. 

Never  until  you  require  attorneys  as  well  as  all  other  classes  of  citizens  to  be  honest 
and  observe  the  moral  law  can  you  expect  to  improve  your  jurisprudence.  Never  can 
you  help  to  promote  the  cause  of  justice  in  society,  until  you  require  courts  and  lawyers 
to  do  as  well  in  that  direction  as  the  common  citizen  is  required  to  do.  Never  can  you 
secure  justice  and  equity  in  any  community  so  long  as  you  allow  a  special  class  to  grow 
up  with  your  approval  whose  special  duty  and  function  is  to  help  the  criminals  and  other 
violators  of  law  escape  justice,  as  do  the  lawyers. 

Supposedly;  courts  and  lawyers  have  their  chief  functions  in  securing  and  promoting 
justice  in  the  community;  but  it  is  well  known  that  very  seldom  do  any  of  them  refuse 
to  defend  and  try  to  clear  by  fair  means  or  foul  every  criminal  great  or  small,  which 
appeals  to  them. 

They  do  not  seek  to  get  them  justice  or  even  justice  tempered  with  mercy;  but  an 
absolutely  clear  title  for  a  known  criminal  and  thus  try  to  thwart  the  ends  of  justice  and 
set  free  upon  an  innocent  public  the  worst  of  criminals.  And  most  remarkable  of  all  is 
the  fact  that  you  never  see  the  courts  or  lawyers  themselves  condemn  these  notorious  and 
vile  traducers  of  the  people.  Did  you  see  or  hear  of  any  prominent  lawyer  or  judge  who 
condemned  or  gave  deserving  criticism  of  Darrow  in  the  McNamara  case? 

Public  sentiment  must  be  aroused  to  condemn  the  criminal  and  all  his  allies;  to 
denounce  and  repudiate  all  violators  of  law  and  their  abettors,  whether  they  be  personal 
friends  or  employed  attorneys.  Crime  and  violation  of  law  must  be  punished  and  all 
parties  to  these  violations  of  the  law  must  meet  with  public  disapproval  before  you  can 
make  progress  in  justice  or  equity.  Every  honest  member  of  society  ought  to  be 
interested  in  the  promotion  and  establishment  of  justice  in  the  community,  and  more  than 
all  others  ought  the  courts  and  lawyers,  to  whom  we  have  specially  committed  this  trust, 
endeavor  to  secure  for  all,  equity  and  righteous  judgment.  Instead,  however,  of  being 
faithful  and  loyal  to  this  trust,  they.have  betrayed  the  people,  and  in  their  selfishness  have 
brought  upon  us  a  corrupt  oligarchy  of  tyrannical  courts  and  lawyers  which  recognize 
their  accountability  to  neither  God  nor  man. 

Attorney  General  Wickersham  in  a  speech  at  the  American  Prison  Congress  is  quoted 
as  saying,  "No  matter  how  apparently  unjust  a  law  may  be,  whether  it  was  enacted 
through  the  influence  of  one  class  for  the  guidance  and  conduct  of  another  class  whether 
it  applies  with  unequal  force  to  the  rich  and  the  poor — enforce  it. 


CORRUPT  COURTS  I47 

"A  consideration  o^  the  nature  of  social  organization  will  demonstrate  the  absolute 
necessity  that  all  classes  of  society  conform  to  the  requirements  of  the  duly  constituted 
authorities,  however  wise  or  unwise  they  may  seem  to  be. 

"He  made  a  strong  argument,  however,  in  favor  of  a  revision  of  these  laws,  not 
only  to  prevent  the  escape  of  the  guilty,  but  to  free  criminal  litigation  from  the  mazes  of 
technicalities  which  have  so  often  caused  the  reversal  of  important  cases." 

At  the  same  Congress  it  is  reported  by  the  public  press,  "A  paper  prepared  by 
Judge  Charles  A.  De  Courcey  of  the  Massachusetts  Superior  Court  was  read,  in  which 
the  Judge  denounced  the  present  criminal  laws  and  said  they  were  a  disgrace  to  the 
country." 

He  criticized  the  tendency  of  the  courts  and  of  lawyers  to  depend  entirely  upon 
technicalities  in  reversing  and  deciding  cases,  and  said  it  was  time  the  entire  model  of 
criminal  procedure  was  changed. 

He  asserted  the  words  "aforesaid"  and  "whereas"  were  of  more  importance  in  an 
indictment  or  complaint  against  a  man  than  the  fact  that  he  may  or  may  not  be  guilty. 
He  gave  many  instances  of  reversals  of  verdicts  because  of  unimportant  technicalities. 

Mr.  Wm.  M.  Ivins  of  New  York,  read  a  very  interesting  paper  upon  the  subject  "What 
is  Crime?"  before  the  Conference  on  the  "Reform  of  the  Criminal  Law  and  Procedure," 
in  which  he  said  "Blackstone  defines  it  as  a  rule  of  civil  conduct  prescribed  by  the  Supreme 
Court  of  a  state,  commanding  what  is  right  and  prohibiting  what  is  wrong."  And  then  he 
proceeds  to  say: 

"For  want  of  a  proper  answer,  in  fact  of  any  answer  to  our  question,  our  laws 
have  become  a  mockery,  our  penal  administration  an  impossibility,  our  jails  bursting 
as  a  result  of  the  criminality  of  the  criminal  law,  our  police  problem  insoluble,  and 
the  community  itself  the  victim  of  the  contagion  of  ignorance,  which  has  removed 
the  distinction  between  criminality  and  the  condemnation,  I  will  not  say  of  society, 
but  of  the  crowd.  The  danger  and  the  seriousness  of  the  situation  is  that  we  are 
confronted  with  problems  which  our  present  organization  of  society  seems  to  be 
entirely  unable  to  solve." 

Felix  Adler,  Professor  of  Social  Ethics  in  Columbia  University  read  a  paper  before 
the  same  conference  upon  "The  Ethics  of  Punishment"  in  which  he  says,  "No  matter  how 
deeply  we  may  pity  the  accused  at  the  bar,  no  matter  how  largely  we  may  take  into 
account  the  influence  of  evil  heredity  and  the  contributory  influence  of  the  misery  due  to 
social  mal-adjustment  in  heaping  up  temptation  in  the  path  of  the  guilty  human  being, 
nevertheless,  in  the  last  analysis,  we  are  bound  to  affirm  that  there  was  in  his  nature  that 
which  might  have  resisted  the  temptation;  that  he  might  have  defied  the  evil  soliciations 
if  he  had  chosen  to  do  so.  If  we  abandon  the  notion  of  guilt  as  appertaining  to  the 
evil  doer  (if  we  deprive  him  of  his  character  as  a  moral  being,  and  thus  of  the  honor 
which  remains  to  him  in  his  utmost  disgrace)  if  we  deny  that  he  is  in  truth  the  doer  of 
his  deed  then  we  degrade  him  to  the  quality  of  a  mere  thing,  one  of  the  countless  terms  in 
the  series  of  nature's  causes  and  effects.  Then  we  deprive  punishment  of  its  most  valuable 
attribute;  for  punishment  (and  this  is  the  gist  of  what  I  have  to  say)  if  it  attributes 
censure,  does  so  on  the  ground  that  the  man  was  not  the  mere  sport  of  circumstances,  but 
that  there  was  in  him  an  indestructible  force  which  he  might  have  opposed  to  these  invad- 
ing influences.  This  fact  is  before  us;  it  is  that  we  condemn  ourselves  and  others  for 
moral  transgressions.  But  to  condemn  one  who  could  not  have  acted  otherwise  than  as 
he  did,  would  be  self-contradictory.  Condemnation  involves  the  capability  to  leave  evil 
deeds  undone,  and  to  bring  home  to  the  offender  the  sense  of  this  capability  is  the  main 
office  of  punishment."  He  might  further  have  added,  is  it  not  an  insult  to  the  Almighty 
for  us  to  be  constantly  making  excuses  for  men  in  their  guilt  and  in  their  crimes  and 
sins  when  He,  the  Infinitely  Wise,  Just,  and  Good  Being  holds  each  man  accountable  for 
his  deeds,  yea,  for  his  very  thoughts? 

Once  more  he  says,  "The  criminal  is  guilty — he  is  not  merely  unfortunate  or  sick, 
the  prison  is  not  a  hospital.  The  man  is  guilty.  He  has  done  the  dreadful  deed  which  he 
might  have  left  undone." 

At  the  same  conference.  Professor  George  W.  Kirchwey  of  Columbia  University 
said,  "The  essential  functions  of  government,  what  are  usually  conceded  to  be  primary 
functions,  are  three:  the  maintainance  of  domestic  order  through  the  repression  of  crime. 


148  EQUITAXIA,   OR  THE    LAND   OF  EQUITY 

the  making  of  war  and  the  provision  of  a  medium  of  exchange  through  the  monopoly  of 
coinage.  Well  if  anybody  believes  that  the  government  is  performing  that  function 
(the  repression  of  crime)  and  performing  it  satisfactorily  he  should  have  attended  the 
canference  of  the  last  two  days. 

"Nothing  has  been  clearer  than  that  the  administration  of  criminal  justice  has  proved 
to  be  a  lamentable  failure.  There  have  been  multitudinous  illustrations  given  of  that 
fact,  though  the  one  portentous  fact,  which  stamps  itself  upon  the  memory  is  the  fact 
that  crime  is  not  diminishing  in  any  civilized  country,  but  that  it  is,  even  in  our  favored 
land,  relatively  to  the  population,  actually  increasmg.  Especially  is  this  true  of  crimes 
of  magnitude,  crimes  of  violence,  crimes  at  which  all  the  repressive  force  of  the  state  has 
for  centuries  been  directed.  It  is  to  us  as  individuals  and  still  more  as  fellow  members  of 
the  great  corporation  of  civilized  society,  that  there  has  been  committed  the  high  and 
difficult,  but  yet  entirely  possible,  tasks  of  controlling  crime  at  its  very  source,  by  dealing 
with  the  individual,  with  childhood,  and  with  the  home,  thus  shaping  the  citizenship  of 
the  future." 

The  famous  and  somewhat  renowned  lawyer  Francis  J.  Heney  said,  "Shakespeare 
suggests  that  the  first  step  in  reforming  the  criminal  law  would  be  to  hang  all  lawyers. 
It  would  not  be  a  very  bad  thing  to  do.  It  would  have  considerable  effect.  One  of  the 
crimes  against  society  which  most  lawyers  frequently  commit  is  that  of  persuading  people 
generally  and  juries  particularly,  that  the  presumption  of  innocence  should  prevail,  that 
you  must  always  believe  a  man  innocent  until  after  the  prosecution  has  succeeded  in 
getting  twelve  men  to  say  that  he  is  guilty." 

He  might  have  added  another  wrong  in  allowing  a  prisoner  at  the  bar  to  plead, 
"Not  guilty,"  and  after  proving  him  guilty  treat  him  just  the  same  as  if  he  had  made  no 
plea  in  the  case.  When  a  prisoner  is  before  the  bar  he  has  no  more  right  to  perjure 
himself  in  saying  he  is  not  guilty,  (if  he  is  guilty),  than  a  man  has  under  other  circum- 
stances, and  if  found  guilty  after  having  made  such  a  false  affirmation,  he  should  not  only 
be  punished  for  his  crime,  but  have  an  added  sentence  for  lying  before  the  solemn  bar, 
that  ought  to  be  the  bar  of  justice.  For  you  can  hardly  use  a  stronger  means  of  teaching 
and  training  men  to  He,  cheat  and  falsify,  than  to  teach  them  that  when  befo/e  the  judg- 
ment bar  of  the  city  or  state,  they  can  with  impunity  make  public  solemn  and  sacred 
affirmation  of  innocence,  with  the  consciousness  of  guilt  upon  them,  and  in  the  hope  or 
belief  that  by  some  hook  or  crook,  by  bold  and  brazen  effrontery  they  may  go  free  and 
defeat  the  ends  of  justice,  and  that  their  lying  and  connivance  with  a  tricky  lawyer  may 
cover  up  their  crime.  Better  not  let  the  person  on  trial  make  any  plea,  then  encourage  or 
tolerate  as  a  right  and  proper  thing  a  plea  so  at  variance  with  the  facts.  Make  no  plea, 
or  make  a  truthful  one,  or  finally  add  to  the  penalty  for  the  offense  committed  a  suitable 
one  for  false  testimony  and  public  lying,  and  suitable  amelioration  when  an  honest  plea 
is   made   and   truthful   testimony   given. 

The  Louisville  Courier  Journal  recently  said,  "The  poor  man  has  nowhere  in  these 
United  States  the  chance  of  the  rich  man  before  our  Courts  of  law.  What  with  crooked 
judges  and  crooked  lawyers  and  crooked  juries — what  with  jimcrack  technicality  and  the 
law's  delays — the  rich  man  has  always  a  hope  and  something  more  than  a  chance.  Not 
in  any  country  of  continental  Europe  does  criminal  justice  hang  so  lax  as  in  the  states  of 
American  Union.  Our  courts  of  criminal  procedure  deserve  to  be  a  scorn  and  byword 
when  compared  with  the  criminal  courts  of  England,  France  and  Germany." 

Lest  some  one  should  think  that  I  criticize  the  courts  too  severely  for  following 
custom,  precedent,  and  outworn  and  obsolete  theories  instead  of  equity  and  justice,  let 
me  remind  you  of  the  decision  of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  in  the  Dredd  Scott 
case  in  which  it  is  said  "The  Court  did  not  confine  itself  to  the  case  before  it,  but  went 
out  of  its  way  and  decided  three  important  points,  as  follows:  First,  that  African  negroes 
had  never  been  recognized  in  American  law  or  custom  as  persons;  Second,  that  Congress 
had  no  power  to  make  regulations  for  the  territories  acquired  after  the  constitution  was 
adopted,  except  under  the  constitution  which  recognized  slaves  as  property.  Third, 
That  the  Missouri  Compromise  already  repealed  by  the  Kansas-Nebraska  bill,  had  never 
been  constitutional.  Of  course  no  exception  had  been  taken  by  Scott's  counsel  to  the 
Supreme  Court's  ruling  that  negro  blood  was  no  bar  to  citizenship;  but  the  Supreme 
Court  dragged  it  in  and  over-ruled  it.  The  Court  held  that  they  (negroes)  were  regarded 
in  the  constitution  as  only  chattel  property,  were  not  included  in  the  words,  people,  or 


SELFISH  DOCTORS  149 

citizens,  in  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  or  Articles  of  Confederation,  or  the  Consti- 
tution, remained  in  this  condition  of  civil  nullity,  even  when  emancipated,  had  no  rights 
except  such  as  each  state  chose  to  grant  them,  and  could  not  become  citizens  capable  of 
suing  or  being  sued."  And  this  in  spite  of  "the  fact  that  free  negroes  were  acutally 
voters  m  five  of  the  states  in  1  787,  and  were  so  even  yet,  save  where  the  states  had 
changed  their  constitutions   to  disfranchise   them." 

Dr.  Brown — You  have  hit  the  lawyers  in  this  country  pretty  hard  and  have  correctly, 
I  think,  shown  the  evils  of  their  wrong  view  point  and  practice;  and  you  have  shown  us 
clearly  how  effectively  these  evils  have  been  overcome  in  Equitania.  I  am  wondering 
how  they  handle  the  question  of  public  health  and  how  they  train  the  doctors,  whether  or 
not  they  do  justice  in  this  regard. 

Horace — I  am  glad  you  asked  that  question,  for  a  physician  of  your  own  country  has 
written  so  recently  upon  the  abuses  in  the  United  States  connected  with  health  problems, 
and  the  course  he  advises  is  so  like  what  the  Equitanians  practice,  and  the  results  are  so 
beneficial  and  promote  so  great  harmony  and  good  feeling  I  am  sure  you  will  be  glad  to 
know  about  it.     Here  is  what  this  doctor  says: 

"Some  evils  of  monopoly  not  generally  recognized  or  appreciated  in  Europe 
and  America  might  be  fittingly  mentioned. 

"First.  The  monopoly  in  medicine,  or  the  medical  trust,  and  the  hospital  trust 
or  monopoly.  Of  course  you  will  be  quite  surprised  to  see  these  mentioned  as  you 
had  never  heard  nor  thought  it  possible  for  a  practical  or  even  nominal  trust  to 
exist  in  these  fields  of  utility,  science  and  philanthropy.  But  notice  how  very  care- 
fully it  is  worked,  and  how  quietly  it  is  unconsciously  imposed  upon  the  people. 

"To  begin  with  no  one  can  practice  medicine,  or  the  healing  art,  unless  he 
complies  with  a  certain  fictitious  standard  imposed  by  those  who  have  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  place  of  public  censors  in  the  matter  of  health,  and  assume  not  only 
that  they  know  better  than  anybody  else  what  is  best  for  themselves  and  their 
particular  friends,  but  they  know  what  is  best  for  you  and  your  friends  and  they 
propose  to  make  you  do  their  way,  whether  it  is  best  or  not  for  you  to  do  so. 
They  are  not  satisfied  to  treat  you  as  an  intelligent,  rational,  and  responsible  being 
to  be  reasoned  with,  shown  the  facts,  and  persuaded  of  the  better  or  best  way,  but 
they  must  needs  coerce  you  to  their  way  of  thinking,  believing  and  acting  in  the  care 
of  the  body  to  maintain  health,  cure  and  prevent  disease.  There  was  the  Old  School 
of  Medicine,  the  Allopaths,  and  they  tried  for  years  by  fighting  the  Homeopaths  to 
keep  them  from  having  any  standing  in  the  community,  or  from  the  right  to  practice, 
by  unfavorable  legislation;  then  the  Eclectics  were  under  legal  fire,  then  the  Magnetic 
healers,  the  Osteopaths,  the  natural-born  bone  setter,  all  so-called  quacks,  all  adver- 
tising doctors,  and  last  the  Christian  Scientists  have  had  to  make  a  bitter  fight  to 
get  legal  recognition  and  the  right  to  treat  those  who  desire  their  services.  All  the 
way  through  it  has  been  a  close  trust  or  monopoly  trying  to  stifle  competition  and 
compel  people  to  bow  down  to  one  school  of  practice  at  the  first,  then  after  another 
had  been  admitted  to  legal  recognition,  it  joined  with  the  first  to  prevent  further 
inroads.  But  as  others  came  in,  they  too  joined  the  ranks  of  the  others  and  it  looks 
as  if  there  is  almost  no  end  to  the  effort  to  prevent  freedom  of  choice  in  the  matter 
of  one's  care  of  his  own  body.  Now  the  fair,  right,  and  equitable  course  would  be 
to  let  every  responsible  person  choose  his  own  method  after  faithfully  presenting  the 
truth  to  him,  as  far  as  truth  is  known  upon  the  subject,  and  let  him  employ  any 
person  or  method  he  may  choose,  so  long  as  he  does  not  endanger  the  public.  In 
other  words  make  it  obligatory  upon  the  healer  or  practitioner  to  state  the  truth  about 
his  abilities  and  qualifications  and  let  the  public  know  the  truth,  and  let  the  individual 
then  choose  for  himself.  Do  not  allow  the  practitioner  to  deceive,  defraud  or 
unwittingly  rob  the  individual  or  the  public.  It  is  proper,  it  is  right,  yea,  it  is  an 
important  duty  of  the  state  to  prevent  fraud,  deception  and  misrepresentation  upon 
its  citizens.  But  it  is  no  part  of  the  slate's  business  to  either  make  me  have  any 
certain  physician  or  kind  of  treatment,  or  deprive  me  of  any  remedy  I  may  desire, 
so  long  as  I  am  a  free  and  responsible  citizen,  and  so  long  as  such  course  does  not 
endanger  the  public  welfare.  Publicity  of  the  facts,  not  of  theories,  visions,  dreams, 
and  vain  imaginations,  but  of  the  facts  and  wide  spread  knowledge  of  the  truth  as  far 


loO  EQUITAXIA,   ()1{   THE    LAND   OF   EQUITY 

as  it  is  known,  and  the  deliberate  and  effective  prevention  of  false,  deceptive,  and  mis- 
leading statements  are  iSe  true  remedies  for  all  fake,  unsound,  and  impractical 
schemes  whether  in  medicine  or  commerce. 

"No  honest  person  could  object  to  having  a  common  requirement  for  every 
healer,  in  that  he  must  publicly  and  privately  state  the  truth  about  himself  and  the 
grounds  upon  which  he  claims  to  cure  people  of  their  physical  ailments,  and  the 
means  he  proposes  to  use  in  the  prevention  of  disease.  If  the  public  knew  more  about 
these  things  it  would  be  better  for  the  people,  and  herein  the  regular  profession  has 
greatly  erred  in  the  past  by  being  too  exclusive,  too  reserved,  and  too  ethical  (  ?)  to 
tell  the  public  as  much  as  it  ought  about  the  human  body  and  how  to  care  for  it. 

"If  Mr.  Jones  wants  to  practice  the  healing  art  with  no  other  qualification  than 
that  he  is  the  seventh  son  of  a  seventh  son  and  was  born  in  the  dark  of  the  moon,  let 
him  say  so  to  the  public,  and  let  anybody  who  wants  to  do  so  employ  him. 

"If  Mr.  Smith  wants  to  practice  the  healing  art  with  no  other  qualification  than 
that  he  is  a  natural-born  bone  setter,  let  him  say  so,  and  let  those  who  want  such  a 
practitioner  have  him. 

"If  Mr.  Solomon  has  taken  a  course  of  regular,  homeopathic  or  eclectic  medicine 
of  one,  four  or  seven  years  in  the  schools  and  hospitals  of  their  respective  pathies, 
let  him  say  so,  and  let  him  practice  among  those  who  may  desire  his  services.  Only 
see  to  it  that  they  are  privately  and  publicly  telling  the  truth  about  their  qualifications 
and  their  claims.  Then  hold  them  responsible  for  any  damage  which  may  come  to 
the  public  for  any  woeful  ignorance  and  calamities  which  they  might  easily 
have  prevented.  For  example  they  should  observe  the  quarantine  laws  against 
scarlet  fever,  diptheria,  small-pox,  etc.,  and  failure  to  do  so  might  justly  and  fairly 
be  punishable  in  a  measure  adequate  to  the  damage  done. 

"Thus  competition  would  be  open  and  fair,  and  no  fraud  or  deception  would  be 
practiced  upon  the  people  and  real  merit  would  win  because  of  its  intrinsic  value, 
and  not  because  bolstered  up  by  special  privilege  or  legal  enactments. 

"In  the  United  States  particularly  the  several  states  have  laws  for  the  regulation 
of  the  practice  of  medicine,  and  even  where  one  has  taken  the  necessary  course 
authorized  by  the  state  to  receive  a  diploma,  he  is  still  not  allowed  to  practice  his 
profession  until  he  has  taken  an  additional  examination  by  a  special  board  of 
examiners  appointed  by  the  state,  which  seems  an  incongruity  and  the  result  of 
political  graft,  and  inconsistent  with  the  spirit  of  freedom  and  education.  But  it 
gives  a  few  more  power,  it  gives  this  profession  more  wholly  over  into  the  hands  of 
monopoly.  Even  worse  and  more  ludicrous,  however,  is  the  fact  that  after  one  has 
complied  with  all  the  conditions  in  any  one  state  and  finally  secures  his  diploma,  and 
then  a  certificate  permitting  him  to  practice  medicine,  he  is  limited  to  that  one  state, 
and  can  no  more  exercise  this  function  of  a  free  born  citizen  in  another  state  than 
if  he  were  a  foreigner  or  an  alien.  And  he  must  put  up  more  money  and  go  through 
a  lot  more  of  red-tape  and  often  further  examination,  before  he  will  be  allowed  to 
carry  on  his  business  in  another  state.  He  is  a  citizen  of  the  United  States,  but  he 
can  only  carry  on  his  legitimate  vocation,  no  matter  how  well  qualified,  until  he  has 
complied  with  special  conditinos  or  taken  particular  examinations  for  each  state  in 
which  he  may  desire  to  practice.  As  if  a  man  could  be  qualified  to  practice  in  New 
York,  but  wholly  unfit  to  treat  the  citizens  of  Nebraska  without  further  testing  of 
his  ability.  But  another  more  flagrant  monopoly  in  the  profession  in  both  Europe 
and  America  is  this.  After  one  has  pursued  the  studies  required,  gained  the  diploma 
desired  and  been  given  a  good  and  sufficient  certificate  to  practice  medicine  in  all 
its  departments  anywhere  in  the  state  granting  such  certificate,  he  cannot  put  his 
patients  in  the  public  or  even  the  charitable  hospitals  and  treat  them  himself,  unless 
he  happens  to  be  a  man  with  a  "pull"  and  gets  a  position  on  the  staff  of  such  hospital. 
The  state  has  said  by  giving  him  his  certificate  that  he  is  qualified  and  prepared  to 
treat  in  a  scientific  and  skillful  manner  any  who  are  sick  in  that  state;  (Oftentimes 
this  is  deceptive,  misleading,  and  entraps  the  unwary  who  believe  so  implicitly  in  the 
certificate  thus  furnished  by  so  high  an  authority  that  they  give  credence  and  weight 
to  his  claims  which  would  otherwise  go  unheeded)  ;  And  yet  when  he  is  called  to 
treat  a  poor  man's  family  and  finds  that  he  could  care  for  it  so  much  better  if  the 
sick  one  were  in  the  charity  ward  of  the  public  hospital,  he  is  told  yes,  you  can  send 


NARROW  DOCTORS  151 

hLZ'r\  ^^11  ''"'  T  '^""°'  "■'"*  ^'"^'  f°^  y°"  ^'■^  "°t  °n  the  staff  of  the 
hospital.  In  other  words  you  are  all  right  to  treat  this  poor  man  or  his  f ami  y  at 
home,  under  the  most  unfavorable  conditions,  but  when  you  move  him  to  a  hospita 

^eaTh  m  nf  *nT  \'''''  """^'"''  **>^°  ^^^  -«  -*  ^  -it-bk  persoS  to 
treat  him,  and  we  will  turn  him  over  to  one  of  our  staff  who  may  or  may  not  be  so 

him  o^r  T^  ^""'^'^l^^^  J^-d  some  political,  church,  or  society  influence  to  put 
him  on  the  staff  and  so  he  may  take  your  patient  and  exploit  it  before  some  class  of 

Man?     ".t  T  '""'  'I'''  *°u*'"?'*  ^'"^''^^  "P  ^*  y°-  ^'^P-^^  or  disadvantage 

iTJJZ  t  ^°^T^"^°'  "^^'^  '^^  P-^^ig^  °f  special  privilege  over  others  uL 
outclassed  them  and  risen  to  prominence  and  large  business  above  their  competitors 
Ihis  then  IS  unfair  competition,  this  then  is  a  species  of  crude  monopoly  sanctioned 
by  long  usage  in  the  profession. 

"Hospitals  should  be  conducted  in  the  interests  of  the  people,  but  too  often  they 
are  conducted  in  the  interests  of  a  clique  of  doctors.  Even  the  hospitals  conducted 
.11 X  7"r  J"  ^Vn^  asfeeders  to  build  up  some  particular  man  or  men, 

and  that  often  regardless  wholly  of  his  merit  or  his  religion.    If  he  has  given  a  good 
sum  of  money  toward  the  hospital,  or  if  he  happens  to  have  a  large  business  and  can 
bring  some  prestige  to  the  hospital  by  the  use  of  his  name,  he  may  be  an  abortionist 
a  drunkard  or  other  disreputable  character,  he  has  the  influence  considered  important 
and  he  is  given  a  prominent  place  on  the  staff  of  the  hospital,  while  the  young  man 
just  beginnmg    (may  be  fdly  competent,  and  for  some  of  his  patients  may  <xreatly 
need  the  use  of  the  charity  wards  in  the  hospital),  is  shut  out  entirely.     Now Simple 
equity  demands  that  ,n  the  public  institutions  supported  by  the  city  or  state,  these 
priviledges  should  equally  be  open  to  all  practitioners  who  hold  the  state's  license  to 
practice   the  healing  art.     And   further,   all   church   hospitals   supported   by   public 
chanty  should  hkewise  be  open  to  the  use  of  all  practitioners  of  good  character  who 
comply  with  the  ordinary  rules  governing  the  hospitals.     Here  then  would  be  fair 
and  open  competition  which  would  stimulate  all  to  do  their  best,  and  all  would  profit 
by  the  enlarged  experience,  and  the  people  as  a  whole  would  be  the  gainers      It  is 
a  well-known  fact  that  those  who  have  the  advantages  of  a  hospital  experience  and 
enjoy  the  free  interchange  of  ideas  and  experiences,  these  ordinarily  profit  so  greatly 
as  to  be  much  in  advance  of  their  brother  practitioners,  otherwise  their  peers    who 
do  not  enjoy  these  privileges.     Therefore,  the  more  physicians  in  any  community 
who  can  have  these  opportunities,  the  better  for  the  physicians,  and  the  better  for 
the  people  as  a  whole.     There  should  be  no  monopoly,  nor  special  privileges  for  the 
few,    and    real    scientific,    helpful    treatment    for    the    sick    cannot    suffer    by   com- 
parison in  the  open  with  any  inferior  method.     Therefore  it  need  not  fear  the  keenest 
competition,  but  should  covet  the  widest  publicity  of  facts.     In  all  the  past  ages  the 
fight  has  been  to  stifle,  crush,  and  destroy  competition,  if  it  came  in  a  new  fo'rm.  or 
under  a  new  guise,  and  much  time  and  money  have  been  wasted,  and  much  bitterness 
engendered  by  such  effort.     Truth  in  any  sphere  never  suffers  a  permanent  injury, 
nor  for  long,  by  comparison  with  falsehood.     Nothing  of  real  merit  in  the  healing' 
art  or  the  promotion  of  health  can  long  be  kept  down,  however  much  we  may  fight 
or  oppose  it.     On  the  other  hand  no  amount  of  laudation  can  permanently  keep  a 
useless  or  injurious  thing  in  favor  with  the  people.     Let  there  be  light  upon  these 
things,  let  the  public  know  the  facts,  and  thus  by  publicity  and  agitation  to  get  at 
the  truth,  the  greatest  good  will  come  to  all  and  the  least  harm  to  any. 

"To  drive  out  darkness,  turn  on  the  light.  To  drive  out  ignorance,  pour  in 
knowledge.  To  drive  out  fraud,  make  known  the  truth.  To  drive  out  superstition, 
fill  up  with  facts.  To  drive  out  bigotry,  turn  on  humility.  To  drive  out  slavery' 
exalt  freedom.  To  drive  out  idleness,  promote  industry.  To  drive  out  'aziness, 
honor  thrift.  To  drive  out  narrowness,  pour  in  wisdom.  Publicity,  sincerity,  agita- 
tion, and  aggressive  endeavor,  will  eventually  win  in  every  realm  of  truth,  no  matter 
what  the  opposition,  nor  how  bitterly  attacked;  therefore,  if  we  are  right,  we  need 
have  no  fear  of  any  kind  of  competition,  and  if  we  are  wron?;,  but  sincere,  and 
honest,  we  ought  to  be  glad  that  others  who  are  seeking  the  truth  see  our  error  and 
are  presenting  for  our  consideration  something  else  which  may  be  nearer  the  ultimate 
truth  than  our  own  ideas  are. 

"If  any  one  man,  or  any  combination  of  men  had  a  system  absolutely  perfect 


152  EQUITAXIA,   OK   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

and  infallible,  then  the  rest  of  mankind  should  quietly  and  cheerfully  acquiesce  in  it, 
for  nothing  can  be  added  to  perfection,  and  having  that,  we  should  be  content,  and 
look  no  further.  But  not  yet  having  reached  perfection  and  infallibility,  we  ought 
to  be  broad  enough  to  let  every  one  add  his  mite  in  every  honest  endeavor  to  promote 
the  public  health  and  benefit  the  race.  So  that  it  is  not  the  province  or  right  of  any 
government,  society,  or  man,  to  stifle,  crush,  or  prohibit  any  kind  of  treatment  for 
the  sick,  which  is  not  an  open  fraud  on  the  public,  or  directly  injurious  to  the  public 
welfare.  It  can  and  should  prevent  fraud,  deception,  and  misrepresentation  through 
public  or  private  avenues.  In  doing  this  it  not  only  is  acting  within  its  rightful  sphere, 
but  is  performing  a  duty  to  its  citizens  and  a  valient  service  to  its  people.  Let  the  state 
have  a  Board  of  Health  to  see  that  only  the  truth  is  published  and  that  the  public 
is  properly  informed  about  men  and  their  remedies  which  they  are  exploiting  before 
the  people.  No  secret  remedies  or  methods  should  be  tolerated,  and  no  mysterious 
performances  or  deceptive  means  permitted.  Let  the  Board  have  authority  to  get 
at  and  publish  the  facts  and  then  leave  it  for  the  people  themselves  to  choose. 
"To  illustrate.  Take  the  matter  of  vaccination  against  small-pox.  The  regular 
medical  profession,  and  a  large  proportion  of  the  intelligent  part  of  every  civilized 
community  thoroughly  believes  in  its  efficacy  as  a  preventive  measure,  and  very 
wisely,  I  think,  advocates  it  and  have  their  families  protected  by  this  means.  On  the 
other  hand  there  are  those  who  are  opposed  to  it,  do  not  believe  in  it,  and  think  it 
a  bad  practice.  Now  we  who  believe  in  it  have  no  moral  right,  and  should  have 
no  legal  right  to  compel  others  to  submit  to  this  form  of  treatment  merely  because 
we  sincerely  believe  it  is  the  best  for  them.  We  should  have  no  power  to  exclude 
them  from  the  public  schools  or  other  public  places  merely  because  we  are  vaccinated 
and  they  are  not.  And  the  mere  fact  that  the  Supreme  Court  says  that  we  may  do 
so  is  no  evidence  whatever  of  its  justice,  but  is  only  another  case  of  supreme 
stupidity  and  usurpation  of  authority  on  the  part  of  the  court.  Suppose  after  a  time 
the  vast  majority  of  the  intelligent  people,  and  especially  the  voters  should  come 
to  oppose  vaccination,  it  would  not  be  long  until  this  same  court  would  again  stultify 
itself  as  it  has  so  often  done  by  reversing  its  decision.  But  why  should  I  insist  upon 
your  child  being  vaccinated?  I  protect  my  child  by  having  it  vaccinated,  and  if 
you  do  not  vaccinate  yours,  true,  I  think  it  may  get  small  pox,  and  suppose  it  does, 
it  will  not  hurt  my  child  for  it  is  protected  and  hence  I  cannot  justly  insist  upon  your 
child  being  vaccinated  merely  to  avoid  giving  it  to  mine,  and  so  it  must  be  that 
the  reason  I  insist  upon  your  child  being  vaccinated  is  only  in  behalf  of  its  welfare. 
But  you,  its  father  and  mother,  are  more  interested  in  it  than  I  am,  and  you  think, 
after  the  facts  are  put  before  you,  that  it  is  better  off  without  it,  then  you  are  to 
have  the  final  say  until  the  child  is  grown  and  can  choose  for  itself.  Your  judgment  is 
final  and  ought  not  to  be  trespassed  by  any  court  in  the  land.  Of  course  if  your 
child  gets  small  pox,  you  could  not  object  to  its  being  quarantined  for  a  time  away 
from  my  child  lest  he  spread  the  disease  and  infect  my  child,  though  protected.  For 
if  my  child,  though  vaccinated,  should  get  small  pox  (and  strange  to  say  they  some- 
times will  do  so)  you  would  rightly  expect  me  to  keep  my  child  under  quarantine  and 
away  from  your  healthy  child,  and  so  we  could  and  should  agree  upon  the  quarantine 
proposition  which  simply  means  that  I  have  no  moral  and  should  have  no  legal  right 
to  get  any  contagious  or  infectious  disease  and  spread  it  knowingly  to  those  who  have 
it  not.  That  is  to  say,  I  should  so  guard  myself  that  I  would  not  transmit  disease  to 
another  innocent  party.  If  I  do  not  wish  to  protect  myself  from  any  particular  disease 
by  using  means  that  have  been  openly,  frankly,  and  fairly  put  before  me,  that  is  my 
own  personal  affair  so  long  as  I  do  not  endanger  the  innocent  or  become  a  public 
charge  or  dependent.  But  if  I  am  thus  allowed  my  freedom,  liberty,  and  independ- 
ence, I  should  in  all  fairness  concede  to  others  the  same,  and  not  thrust  myself  with 
my  foul  and  dangerous  disease  upon  the  public  or  any  member  thereof.  Liberty 
does  not  mean  license,  and  I  have  no  right  to  inflict  upon  an  inndcent  public  anything 
obnoxious  or  injurious  to  others." 

Horace — This  then  from  one  of  your  own  physicians  shows  how  much  need  there  is 
in  the  United  States  for  some  radical  changes  in  medicine  and  hospital  work  here  and  I 
am  pleased  to  be  able  to  inform  you  that  in  Equitania  these  things  have  been  corrected 
and  every  man  is  given  a  fair  chance  to  practice  the  healing  art  or  enter  any  business 


WIDESPREAD  DRUG  HABITS  153 

he  may  choose  and  is  required  to  be  fair,  frank,  and  honest  with  the  people  and  is  only 
punished  when  caught  wilfully  deceiving  or  defrauding  them.  The  hospitals  are  many 
and  well  equipped  and  the  poor  are  cared  for  and  given  every  consideration  possible,  all 
doctors  being  given  the  same  privileges,  advantages  and  opportunities,  because  this  seems 
equitable  and  fair,  and  is  an  important  means  of  promoting  the  general  health  of  the 
community  and  increasing  the  skill  and  efficiency  of  the  physicians,  and  it  does  give  great 
comfort  to  the  poor,  to  be  able  to  have  the  physician  of  their  choice. 

Dr.  Brown — That  is  certainly  very  fine  and  appeals  to  me  as  being  both  sound  in 
theory  and  most  practical  in  results.  But  now  take  another  phase  of  our  modern 
civilization  in  this  country. 

You  may  remember  that  in  the  Bulletin  sent  out  by  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  on  "Habit  Forming  Agents"  it  is  said;  "The  number  of  drug  addicts  in  the 
United  States  is  variously  estimated  by  those  who  are  conversant  with  the  situation  at 
from  1,000,000  to  4,000,000,  and  it  is  shown  that  the  patent  medicine  and  various  quack 
nostrums  so  widely  advertised  to  the  public  as  cure-alls  for  many  diseases  are  often  if  not 
generally  made  up  of  one  or  more  of  these  habit  forming  drugs.  A  long  list  is  included 
under  the  following  classes: 

1.  Soothing  syrups,  6.  Consumptive  Cures. 

2.  Soft  drinks,  7.  Headache  Mixtures, 

3.  Cures  for  Asthma,  8.  Epilepsy  Remedies, 

4.  Cures  for  Catarrh,  9.  Cures  for  Tobacco  Habit, 

5.  Cold  and  Cough  Cures,  10.  Cures  for  Drug  Habit. 

Now  mark  you,  all  of  these  contain  many  drugs  which  when  used  may  easily  be  the 
means  of  forming  a  habit  for  the  drug  which  it  is  very  difficult,  if  not  impossible  to 
overcome.  Even  this  last  one  which  is  advertised  as  a  means  of  curing  one  of  a  bad 
drug  habit,  itself  contains  drugs  which  will  establish  a  bad  and  evil  appetite  or  habit, 
no  more  easy  to  control  than  the  one  for  which  it  is  given.  Of  course,  under  the  new 
law,  "The  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Act,"  the  label  must  contain  a  true  statement  of  the  ingre- 
dients, and  those  who  are  wise  enough  and  are  not  already  in  the  net  are  forewarned,  but 
immense  damage  has  been  done  which  can  never  be  repaired.  Of  course  it  must  be 
remembered  that  these  do  not  include  the  victims  of  alcohol  and  tobacco,  but  of  the  other 
pernicious  agencies  only. 

The  advertised  "Home  Treatments"  for  the  various  drug  habits  are  as  pernicious 
and  injurious  as  the  habits  for  which  they  are  prescribed.  The  author  of  the  bulletin  says: 
"There  are  at  present  at  least  thirty  of  these  treatment  sold  throughout  the  United  States. 
They  are  sent  indiscriminately  into  any  home,  although  some  of  them  contain  sufficient 
poison  to  kill  a  dozen  men,  and  in  only  one  instance  has  the  writer  observed  a  statement 
of  warning  relative  to  their  poisonous  character.  Some  of  the  promoters  themselves  have 
little  knowledge  of  the  dangerous  character  of  the  mixtures  they  are  handling.  For 
example,  it  was  found  that  one  of  these  treatments,  handled  by  a  groceryman  who  had 
neither  medical  nor  pharmaceutical  knowledge,  was  distributed  to  anyone  asking  for  it. 
In  some  instances  these  men  organized  into  firms  or  corporations  and  employed  doctors 
to  assist  them  in  their  nefarious  business.  The  chief  reason  for  employing  a  physician  in 
this  connection  is  to  evade  the  various  state  laws,  because  a  business  of  this  character 
would  probably  be  construed  as  practicing  medicine,  and  such  practice  is  denied  to 
practitioners.  These  physicians  very  well  understand  that  there  are  at  present  no  sub- 
stances known  to  the  medical  profession  which  can  be  used  successfully  in  the  treatment  of 
drug  addicts  without  the  careful  supervision  and  restraining  influence  of  the  medical  man 
himself  and  the  constant  attendance  of  a  nurse  acquainted  with  drug-addiction  cases. 
It  IS  well  known  that  the  drug  addict  is  incapable  of  treating  himself.  The  chief  object 
of  this  practice  seems  to  be  to  extract  money  from  the  untortunale  victims,  who  in  many 
instances  continue  the  treatment  over  a  period  of  years." 

He  also  gives  two  sad  and  awful  illustrations  as  follows:  "A  clergyman  interviewed 
the  writer  sometime  ago  as  to  the  possibility  of  taking  action  against  a  certain  firm 
supplying  his  communicants  with  a  'catarrh  powder,'  formerly  known  under  the  name  of 
'Dr.  Agnew's  Catarrh  Powder.'  He  stated  that  the  use  of  the  powder  was  ruinous  to 
some  of  his  congregation  and  furnished  the  writer  with  the  name  of  a  large  wholesaler 
in  an  adjacent  state  who  furnished  the  remedy.  " 


154  EQUITAMA,   OK   THE   LAND   OF   Egi  ITY 

"Another  case  was  that  of  a  boy  who  had  contracted  the  cocain  habit.  His  father 
made  inquiry  as  to  whether  it  was  possible  for  the  federal  authorities  to  interdict  the  sale 
of  this  commodity.  He  stated  that  in  his  home  city  the  article  was  freely  sold,  and  his  son 
being  known  as  a  habitue,  it  was  offered  to  him  continually.  The  boy,  about  eighteen 
years  of  age,  stated  that  is  was  simply  impossible  for  him  to  resist  the  temptation,  and  in 
order  to  save  the  family  from  disgrace  he  requested  that  he  be  sent  into  a  country  where 
cocain  could  not  be  purchased.  He  was  accordingly  sent  to  Germany,  where  he  was  at  the 
time  of  the  father's  interview  with  the  writer.  It  is  also  stated  that  the  habit  was  contracted 
by  the  injudicious  use  of  cocain  in  the  treatment  of  catarrhal  conditions  by  a  reputable 
and  well-known  specialist.  The  father  was  anxious  to  bring  his  boy  back  to  America, 
but  was  afraid  to  do  so,  owing  to  the  ease  with  which  this  dangerous  drug  could  be 
obtained." 

Dr.  W.  C.  Ashworth  of  Greensboro,  N.  C.  in  an  article  read  before  the  State  Medical 
Society  upon  "The  Increasing  Frequency  of  the  Use  of  Narcotic  Drugs  by  Members  of  the 
Medical  Profession,"  among  other  things  said,  "We  find  on  looking  over  our  case  register 
that  75  per  cent  of  all  our  drug  patients  are  physicians.  ■*  *  v  jj^  defense  of  the 
drug  user,  I  wish  to  say  that  very  few  of  them  commence  the  use  of  the  drug  wantonly. 
Somewhere,  perhaps  in  the  ancestry  of  the  individual,  you  will  find  the  history  of  excessive 
use  of  stimulants  or  narcotic  drugs,  thus  transmitting  to  the  unfortunate  subject  a  lessened 
resistance,  or  a  strong  predilection  for  the  use  of  stimulants  and  drugs.  I  find  in  support 
of  this  argument  that  fully  50  per  cent  of  my  drug  patients  give  a  history  of  a  depraved 
ancestry,  or  other  faulty  habits  of  living,  due  in  a  large  part  to  an  excessive  use  of 
narcotic  drugs  or  stimulants.  It  is  natural  therefore,  to  find  the  neuropathic  type  or 
tendency  in  most  drug  users." 

Horace — These  are  but  phases  in  man's  life  amid  the  progress  of  civilization  which 
he  must  be  equipped  to  meet  upon  high  moral  and  intellectual  ground  by  fundamental' 
principles  which  are  applicable  to  every  power,  passion,  appetite  or  other  tendency  of 
his  being. 

As  Dante  so  wisely  says: 

"Call  to  mind  from  whence  you  spring; 
Ye  were  not  formed  to  live  the  life  of  brutes. 
But  virtue  to  pursue  and  knowledge  high." 


And  again; 


"Ye  who  live,  do  so  each  cause  refer  to  Heaven  above. 
E'en  as  its  motion  of  necessity. 
Drew  with  it  all  their  moves." 


Als 


"Let  this  suffice. 

To  save  you,  when  by  evil  lusts  enticed. 

Remember  ye  be  men,  not  senseless  brutes." 

And  finally  on  this  point  he  truly  says: 

"Light  have  ye  still  to  follow  evil  or  good. 
And  of  the  will,  free  power,  which  if  it  stand 
Firm  and  unwearied  in  Heaven's  first  assay, 
Conquers  at  last,  so  it  be  cherished  well. 
Triumphant  over  all." 

Now  concerning  the  use  of  the  two  drugs,  alcohol  and  tobacco,  which  are  those  most 
commonly  used,  both  moderately  and  excessively. 

We  should  never  forget,  and  this  many  overlook,  that  most  men;  that  is  from  85 
to  90  per  cent  use  alcoholics  in  some  form  or  other,  and  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  and 
that  most  of  these  use  tobacco  in  some  form  more  or  less  regularly.  And  yet  in  spite  of 
these  facts  most  of  them  never  become  criminals  or  public  charges,  and  only  a  very  small 
per  cent  of  them  are  so  seriously  affected  physically  by  any  permanent  injury  as  to  be 
detected  by  the  most  searching  investigation  known  to  science.  That  is  to  say  85  per  cent 
of  the  men  use  alcoholics,  but  not  more  than  5  per  cent  of  them  become  criminals  or 
public  charges.  Of  this  85  per  cent,  certainly  he  would  be  a  rash  man  who  would  claim 
that  more  than  20  per  cent  of  these  men  have  physical  diseases  resulting  directly  from  the 


PRODUCING  CRIMINALS  155 


we 
uor 


effect  of  the  alcoholics  they  consume.     Or  to  put  it  differently,  in  the  United  States 

have  about  25.000,000  men  of  which  we  will  say  85  per  cent  or  21,250,000  use  liq 

m  some  form  and  in  some  degree.  Now  it  cannot  be  that  over  5  per  cent  of  these,  or 
1,062,500  become  criminals  or  public  charges,  and  he  would  be  considered  visionary, 
irnpractical,  and  not  well  informed  who  should  claim  that  a  like  number  of  these  have 
diseases  in  any  way  directly  traceable  to  the  use  of  strong  drink. 

In  fact  the  last  census  of  the  United  States  (1910)  shows  that  there  were  25,000,000 
in  the  United  States,  and  the  total  criminal  population  including  both  men  and  women  was 
500,000.  Insane,  male  and  female  was  241,750.  Juvenile  delinquents,  male  and  female 
22,903.  Paupers,  male  and  female  190,401.  Feeble  minded,  male  and  female  14,347, 
or  a  total  of  less  than  one  million.  In  other  words,  the  majority  of  men,  three-fourths, 
or  four-fifths,  who  use  alcoholics  are  not  injured  physically  in  any  perceptible  manner, 
nor  do  they  become  either  criminals  or  public  charges.  Therefore  any  argument  based 
upon  the  fact  that  most  criminals,  if  not  all,  use  both  alcohol  and  tobacco  is  fallacious  and 
misleading,  since  four  or  five  times  as  many  men  use  these  agents  who  do  not  become 
crimmals,  public  charges,  or  physically  diseased  by  their  use,  or  become  so  while  using 
them;  and  since  further  so  small  a  percentage  do  not  use  them  at  all  you  must  needs  have 
your  criminals  as  well  as  your  strong,  active  useful  and  successful  workmen,  mechanics, 
scholars,  lawyers,  doctors,  business  men,  and  others  largely  come  from  this  same  85  or 
90  per  cent  of  men  who  use  alcoholics,  and  would  it  not  be  equally  logical,  if  not  more 
so,  to  say  that  because  the  larger  proportion  of  the  successful  men  in  all  the  walks  of  life 
use  liquor,  therefore  its  use  in  a  degree  contributes  to  the  successful  man's  life,  and  is  an 
aid  to  him?  That  is  to  say  there  are  more  good  citizens,  successful,  and  substantial 
laborers,  clerks,  professional  and  business  men  who  use  or  have  used  these  drugs,  than 
there  are  who  are  and  always  have  been  total  abstainers?  So  that  if  your  reasoning  is 
good  and  your  logic  correct,  that  because  most  criminals  use  alcoholics,  therefore  it  was 
the  alcohol  that  made  them  such;  why  am  I  not  right  in  saying  that  since  most  successful 
men  in  all  the  walks  of  life  use  alcoholics,  therefore  their  successful  lives  are  due  to  the 
use  of  alcoholics?  Is  it  not  better  to  teach  the  truth  in  both  cases  and  say  that  the 
criminal  is  such  in  spite  of  his  cups,  and  the  successful  man  is  such  in  spite  of  his  cups, 
and  that  back  of  the  liquor  in  both  cases  is  the  something  which  makes  the  man  what  he 
is  in  spite  of  his  cups,  as  that  is  only  an  outward,  a  superficial,  a  material  thing,  which 
does  not  and  cannot  affect  the  real  man,  unless  he  chooses  its  influence  and  surrenders 
his  will  to  it.  In  every  case,  whether  good  or  bad,  there  is  an  intangible  something,  the 
essence  of  the  man  over  and  above  these  physical,  material  things,  which  can  and  does 
dominate  them  at  his  pleasure.  So  that  I  would  neither  argue  that  alcohol  makes  crim- 
inals, nor  that  it  makes  great  and  successful  men,  since  it  is  often  present  in  both,  and 
therefore  is  not  the  essential  cause  or  factor  in  either. 

Nearly  all  of  the  really  bad  men,  whether  criminals  or  not,  are  users  of  tobacco,  but 
is  it  that  which  makes  them  bad  or  criminal?  It  is  also  true  that  most  of  the  great  and 
good  men  also  use  it,  and  would  you  say  they  are  made  great  and  good  by  that  particular 
agency?  Certainly  not.  They  are  good  or  bad,  criminals  or  not,  in  spite  of  these  means, 
not  because  of  them,  and  their  usefulness  or  harmfulness  must  be  based  upon  other 
considerations  entirely.  Their  moderate  use  might  be  beneficial,  although  their  excessive 
use  were  injurions.  Their  occasional  or  moderate  use  might  be  permissible,  because 
agreeable,  though  not  essential,  or  especially  beneficial;  when  their  abuse  could  in  no 
sense  be  justified.  So  that  we  should  seek  to  ascertain  the  real  facts,  the  truth  upon  this 
question,  and  as  rational,  responsible  beings  act  accordingly. 

To  say  that  seventy-five  or  ninety-five  men  out  of  every  hundred  shall  not  use  any- 
thing because  five  or  twenty-five  men  out  of  every  hundred  using  that  same  thing  abuse 
it  by  over-indulgence,  and  injure  themselves  or  others  by  this  means,  seems  hardly  a  fair 
or  reasonable  proposition.  Would  it  not  be  more  rational,  reasonable,  and  practicable 
to  teach  the  truth  about  it,  that  it  is  the  abuse  of  the  thing,  and  not  its  proper  use,  which 
is  to  be  condemned.  True,  it  is  worthy,  a  commendable  and  high  ideal  for  these  men  to 
say,  for  the  sake  of  my  example,  my  influence  upon  my  fellow  men,  I  will  forego  a 
pleasure,  a  custom,  a  desire  which  is  harmless,  or  even  beneficial  to  me;  but  not  essential 
or  really  needful,  in  order  that  some  of  my  fellow  beings  not  so  capable  as  myself  of  con- 
trol within  right  bounds,  may  not  be  led  to  do  themselves  harm  by  such  indulgence. 
But  it  can  hardly  be  the  part  of  Wisdom  to  compel  such  self-sacrifice. 


lo()  EQUITANIA,   OR   THK   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

It  is  no  doubt  true  that  most  men  who  use  either  alcohol  or  tobacco  do  use  more 
than  is  good  for  them,  and  that  some  day  we  will  be  able  to  demonstrate  scientifically 
certain  injurious  physical  effects  that  now  are  not  discernible,  and  the  tendency  even 
now  is  for  men  who  use  these  drugs  to  be  so  gradually  drawn  into  their  excessive  use 
that  they  imperceptibly  cross  the  line  of  harmlessness  and  before  they  are  aware  of  it 
they  are  bound  by  a  habit  exceedingly  hard  to  overcome. 

I  think  we  will  all  agree  that  this  is  a  line  over  which,  if  one  does  not  cross,  he  will 
receive  no  injury  whatever,  from  either  alcohol  or  tobacco,  and  on  the  other  hand  when 
he  does  cross  that  line  the  injury  done  is  commensurate  with  the  distance  over  which  he 
goes.  That  is  to  say,  one  might  use  either  or  both  alcohol  and  tobacco  in  so  great  moder- 
ation as  to  surely  suffer  no  injurious  effects;  but  that  one  may  use  enough  of  either  to  have 
very  serious  physical  results  upon  the  system,  and  further,  this  dividing  line  between  the 
amount  which  one  can  use  daily  with  perfect  safety,  and  the  amount  which  used  daily  is 
positively  and  certainly  injurious  is  a  shifting  line,  and  differs  widely  in  different  indivi- 
viduals,  and  as  above  stated,  our  methods  of  investigation  along  this  line  are  so  coarse 
and  unreliable  that  we  have  no  means  at  our  disposal  today  by  which  we  can  actually 
prove  the  injurious  effects  of  these  drugs  upon  the  majority  of  those  who  use  them.  It 
is  very  easy  to  demonstrate  their  evil  effect  when  used  in  great  excess,  and  a  very  large 
proportion  of  men  who  use  them  admit  they  do  not  need  them,  and  at  the  same  time 
confess  their  unwillingness  or  inability  to  give  up  their  use,  even  when  conscious  of  their 
bad  effect;  so  that  the  power  and  almost  irresistible  force  of  the  habit  when  once  formed 
is  so  great,  and  the  ease  and  unconscious  insidiousness  with  which  the  appetite  is  formed 
which  leads  so  many  over  the  line  of  safety,  seems  to  make  a  good  argument  for 
total  abstinence.  Total  abstinence,  therefore,  is  certainly  the  wisest  and  best  course 
for  every  person.  The  possession  of  intelligence,  powers  of  observation,  reason,  and 
judgment  are  ours  that  knowledge  may  be  acquired  and  rational  conclusions  reached 
and  action  taken  accordingly  as  accountable,  responsible  beings.  As  we  make  pro- 
gress in  civilization  and  become  more  intelligent  and  better  informed  we  ought,  as 
rational  beings,  to  try  to  live  up  to  our  knowledge  and  adopt  a  course  of  living  or  actions 
public  and  private  in  harmony  therewith,  even  though  we  must  give  up  some  old  theories 
and  practices  to  which  we  have  become  attached,  or  which  satisfy  our  sensual  or  material 
man.  It  is  this  ability  to  profit  by  our  own,  and  the  experience  of  others,  and  by  the 
knowledge  we  acquire  in  the  history  of  the  race,  that  marks  real  progress  and  testifies  to 
the  uplifting  of  the  individual  and  the  race. 

To  seek  for  knowledge,  to  learn  the  facts  with  which  he  is  concerned,  and  act  upon 
them  in  accordance  with  Reason,  is  the  highest  function  of  a  rational  being,  and  is  proof 
of  the  proper  use  of  the  mental  faculties  with  which  man  is  endowed. 

In  reformatories,  asylums,  jails,  and  in  the  penitentiaries  the  inmates  are  restrained, 
or  made  to  do,  by  physical  force;  and  this  is  both  right  and  necessary,  within  reasonable 
bounds;  but  not  so  among  a  free  people,  a  responsible  people,  a  self-governing  people,  so 
long  as  they  do  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  their  fellow  beings.  Those  who  believe 
that  an  apple  may  be  made  to  become  an  orange  by  simply  enclosing  it  in  the  peeling 
of  an  orange,  may  also  believe  that  the  outward  change  of  a  man  may  make  him  a  better 
man,  or  even  a  Christian,  but  not  so  with  the  thoughtful  and  intelligent  observer.  Those 
who  believe  that  changing  the  label  on  a  jar  or  can  of  fruit  also  changes  the  contents 
at  the  same  time  may  believe  that  man  is  changed  in  his  character  or  essence  by  change 
of  name,  a  change  of  clothes,  or  by  a  change  of  profession;  but  those  who  know  that  the 
first  and  essential  thing  is  to  actually  have  the  contents  of  the  jar  or  can  changed  to  the 
very  identical  thing  you  want,  before  a  change  of  name  or  label  is  of  any  real  value,  so 
they  will  see  that  the  innermost  soul  of  man,  his  essence,  his  desires,  his  aspirations,  his 
ambitions  must  be  true  to  the  label  you  put  upon  him  before  the  label  has  any  intrinsic 
value,  or  is  of  worth. 

Drunkenness  like  crime  is  simply  the  evidence  of  some  evil  within.  It  is  a  symptom, 
not  the  disease  itself.  It  is  an  outgrowth  of  a  bad  root  or  seed.  It  is  a  proof  of  some  de- 
ficiency, some  delinquency  within  the  individual.  And  just  as  one  may  control  himself, 
and  should  master  the  evil  tendency  within,  so  that  if  he  commits  crime  we  may  justly  hold 
him  accountable  for  it,  so  he  should  master  his  appetite  for  strong  drink,  tobacco,  or 
other  drug,  and  if  he  does  not  then  he  is  blameable  and  should  in  equity  be  held  account- 
able for  his  drunkenness  and  all  the  evil  results  which  follow.     True  some  men  get  so 


PROHIBITION  NOT  TEMPERANCE  157 

low  down  in  the  scale  of  humanity  by  prolonged  and  constant  giving  way  to  an  evil 
appetite,  that  their  will  power  over  it  is  gone,  and  they  are  now  the  helpless  victims  of 
their  own  evil  doings,  and  so  need  a  guardian  or  better  master  than  their  own  wills  which 
was  originally  given  them  to  direct  and  govern  their  actions.  To  all  such  we  owe  a  good 
and  kmdly  control.  Just  as  the  child,  the  delinquent,  or  other  dependent  needs  wise  and 
judicious  control  by  proper  parent  or  other  suitable  guardian,  so  do  these  who  cannot 
control  their  evil  appetites  need  a  master.  The  theory  that  because  there  is  in  the  world 
a  limited  number  of  such  defectives,  therefore  alcoholics  should  be  abolished  from 
the  earth,  or  prohibited  from  the  whole  race,  is  wrong  in  principle  and  very  harmful 
in  practice.  For  if  this  small  number  of  people,  in  proportion  to  the  whole  number, 
is  rightly  entitled  to  the  power  to  abolish  from  the  world  all  alcoholics,  and  thus  pre- 
vent others  from  using  them  in  a  proper  and  legitimate  way;  then  any  other  like 
minority  of  people  could  rightly  abolish  any  other  thing  which  they  were  inclined  io 
abuse,  and  if  this  thing  were  kept  up,  there  would  be  little  left  in  the  world  for  anybody 
to  use  or  enjoy. 

But  more,  in  all  these  cases  it  is  the  voluntary  and  not  the  compulsory  use,  yea,  the 
voluntary  abuse  of  these  things  that  does  the  harm  and  makes  the  person  who  uses  them, 
and  not  the  inert,  inanimate,  and  material  thing  used,  the  responsible  and  culpable  agent. 
It  is  not  the  inert  and  lifeless  alcohol  which  runs  after  the  drinker  and  makes  him 
partake  against  his  will.  It  is  not  the  alcohol  which  is  punishable,  which  is  the  active, 
voluntary  culprit,  in  the  cese  of  crime  and  drunkenness,  but  it  is  the  man  or  person  who 
voluntarily  takes  the  cup  and  imbibes  too  freely.  It  is  the  man  who  surrenders 
his  will  and  his  reason  to  his  appetite,  and  allows  it  to  rule,  and  be  his  master.  He  who 
allows  any  appetite  or  passion  to  rule,  instead  of  reason,  is  bound  to  find  trouble  and  is 
sure  to  run  into  difficulties  which  he  could  and  ought  to  avoid.  The  will  guided  by  ihe 
higest  reason  is  a  kmd  and  easy  master,  while  all  other  masters  are  tryannical  and  destuc- 
tive  of  both  peace  and  happiness.  The  appetites,  the  passions,  and  the  five  senses  are  the 
most  charming  and  ?jseful  servants,  but  are  most  disastrous  and  tyrannous  masters. 
Man  might  just  as  well  yield  to  one  of  these  masters  as  another,  so  far  as  his  own  peace 
of  mind,  happiness,  and  personal  well  being  is  concerned,  and  he  who  yields  to  one  is  no 
better  nor  worse  than  he  who  yields  to  another,  for  both  are  equally  wrong  in  allowing  an 
appetite,  passion  or  physical  sense  to  usurp  the  place  of  master  and  rule  instead  of  will 
directed  by  the  highest  reason.  The  wrong,  the  evil  is  allowing  a  desire,  an  appetite,  a 
passion  without  right  or  reason  to  become  a  demand,  and  then  a  master  regardless  of 
results  or  consequences.  We  must  bring  the  desires,  the  aspirations,  the  appetites,  the 
passions,  the  bodily  senses  under  control  of  the  enlightened  and  rational  will.  This  is  the 
highest  function  of  an  intelligent  human  being;  and  the  honest,  faithful  endeavor  to 
accomplish  this  end  is  real  growth  and  progress  in  civilization.  There  was  no  sin,  no  harm 
in  having  the  "Tree  of  the  knowledge  of  good  and  evil"  in  the  Garden  of  Eden,  nor  was 
it  wrong  nor  injurious  for  Adam  and  Eve  to  walk  about  it,  admire  its  beauty,  and  praise 
God  for  its  place  in  their  experience.  It  was  only  when  they  went  further  and  put  it  to 
a  use  not  intended  and  actually  abused  by  disobedience  this  good  gift  of  the  Almighty 
that  sin  and  harm  came  to  them.  It  is  never  the  right  use,  but  always  the  abuse,  that  is 
the  forbidden  use  of  the  thmgs  about  us  that  does  harm  and  is  wrong. 
Milton  put  it  very  pointedly  when  he  said  of  man: 
"Within  himself. 
The  danger  lies,  yet  lies  within  his  power. 
Against  his  will  he  can  receive  no  harm." 
And  when  speaking  of  temperance  he  also  truly  says: 

"But  what  availed  this  temperence,  not  complete. 

Against  another  object  more  enticing? 

What  boots  it  at  one  gale  to  make  defense. 

And  at  another  to  let  in  the  foe?" 

We  have  no  sense,  passion,  appetite,  or  natural  faculty,  but  may  be  abused  or  put  to 
some  forbidden  use.  Shall  we  therefore  abolish  these  several  appetites,  or  control  them? 
Shall  we  therefore  by  external  surroundings  make  it  impossible  to  yield  to  any  of  these, 
or  shall  we  as  rational,  responsible,  and  intelligent  beings  control  and  master  the 
mechanism  within,  so  that  these  external  conditions  may  minister  to  our  highest  welfare 


l.-.s  EQUITAXIA,   OH   THE    LAND   OF    KgilTV 

and  be  sources  of  growth,  progress,  development,  and  successful  achievement?  It  is 
almost  like  asking  the  question,  which  would  have  been  better  for  Adam  and  Eve  in  Eden, 
to  take  the  situation  as  God  gave  it  to  them,  and  follow  his  directions  enjoying  the  beauty 
and  shade  of  that  tree,  holding  in  check  all  unholy  desires,  and  mastering  every  evil 
tendency  toward  it;  or  to  decide  that  since  they  could  not  eat  of  its  fruit,  they  cared 
nothing  for  its  shade  or  its  beauty,  and  therefore  they  would  pluck  it  up  by  the  roots  and 
cast  it  out  of  the  Garden?  They  did  not,  possibly  could  not  understand  the  use  of  that 
tree  in  the  Garden,  but  is  there  anyone  so  foolhardy  as  to  say  that  it  would  have  been 
better  for  Adam  and  Eve  to  have  cast  this  tree  out  of  the  Garden,  than  to  have  left  it 
there  and  let  it  fill  its  place  as  God  intended  while  they  cultivated  the  spirit  of  cheerful 
and  submissive  obedience?  Just  as  God  did  nothing  with  our  first  parents  that  was  foolish 
or  unwise;  so  neither  has  he  done  so  with  us  and  the  human  race. 

God  has  not  given  us  anything,  nor  the  power  to  produce  anything  which  would  not 
be  for  our  good  if  rightly  used.  Now  if  we  take  any  of  these  things  and  abuse  them,  or 
put  them  to  a  forbidden  use,  surely  we  cannot  blame  our  Maker  nor  criticise  his  manifold 
bounties.  Take  for  example  gunpowder,  nitro-glycerine,  or  dynamite.  God  has  grac- 
iously raised  up  men  to  make  these  wonderful  explosives,  and  when  they  are  used  for 
mining  purposes,  and  to  blow  up  the  obstructions  to  peaceful  commerce  and  promote 
human  welfare,  they  are  blessings  to  the  race;  but  when  used  by  evil  and  vicious  men  to 
mutilate,  kill  and  tyrannize  over  many  of  our  fellow  beings,  then  it  is  they  become  agencies 
of  evil  and  disaster.  It  is  not  the  gun-powder,  the  nitro-glycerine,  nor  the  dynamite  even 
here  that  is  to  be  condemned,  but  the  persons  who  put  them  to  a  wrong  or  forbidden  use. 
It  is  the  abuse  of  these  powerful  and  useful  agents  by  rational  and  responsible  beings 
that  is  to  be  condemned,  and  such  men  are  to  be  dealt  with  accordingly.  They  are  the 
ones  to  be  restrained,  condemned  and  punished,  and  their  posterity  taught,  trained,  and 
educated  into  better  ways  of  living,  lest  greater  evils  come  upon  them  and  the  community. 

Take  another  illustration.  The  All  Wise  and  beneficent  Father  has  raised  up  men 
who  have  discovered  a  way  to  make  by  certain  chemical  processes  drugs  for  the  relief 
of  pain,  as  sul.  of  morphine,  chloroform,  ether,  and  so  forth.  Now  in  our  present  state 
of  civilization  we  could  hardly  get  along  without  these  and  kindred  drugs.  They  have 
relieved  and  helped  to  cure  thousands  and  millions  of  people,  so  that  few  there  be  in 
civilized  lands  but  recognize  their  usefulness,  and  their  right  to  a  legitimate  place  in 
medicine.  I  find  even  our  Christian  Science  friends  are  very  thankful  for  their  aid  at 
times.  And  yet  who  does  not  know  of  the  awful  slaves  to  the  abuse  of  one  or  more  of 
these  good  creatures  of  our  God.  Are  we  to  blame  a  kind  and  beneficient  Creator  because 
some  of  his  creatures  abuse  or  put  to  a  forbidden  use  these  good  things  which  have  a 
wide  field  of  usefulness?  Or  are  we  so  foolish  as  to  blame  the  drugs  themselves  and  con- 
sign them  to  oblivion  because  so  many  people  abuse  them?  Shall  we  thus  deprive  our 
friends  and  neighbors  of  their  good  qualities,  because  so  many  neglect  their  usefulness 
and  abuse  them?  I  must  not  fail  to  remind  you  that  today  not  less  than  twenty  different 
drugs,  or  combinations  of  drugs,  all  of  which  have  a  useful  and  legitimate  place  in  science 
are  thus  abused,  or  put  to  some  forbidden  use  by  many  of  our  fellow  beings,  and  they  have 
thus  by  degrees  become  slaves  to  a  vile  and  injurious  habit.  They  have  voluntarily  started 
in  a  career  of  giving  way  to  an  appetite,  and  allowing  it  to  become  master  over  will  and 
reason,  until  now  there  are  more  than  1,000,000  today  in  the  United  States  in  abject  mis- 
ery. Alcohol  is  only  one  of  these  and  drunkenness  or  inebriety  is  simply  a  further  illustra- 
tion of  the  above.  Any  appetite,  passion  or  faculty  which  is  allowed  to  usurp  the  place  of 
reason  and  govern  in  its  stead  or  in  violation  of  the  highest  reason  is  a  hard  and  cruel  task- 
master. If  the  appetite  for  alcohol  does  not  rule,  but  you  let  the  appetite  for  tobacco, 
morphine,  hashish,  ether,  or  other  drug  control  you  are  no  better.  Therefore  if  there 
were  no  alcohol  in  the  world,  so  long  as  people  insist  upon  yielding  their  reason  and  wills 
to  some  vile  appetite,  be  it  opium,  tobacco,  or  other  drug  they  have  made  no  progress  in 
reform  and  just  so  long  as  the  evil  desire  is  allowed  to  remain  within,  the  real  citadel 
of  manhood  is  not  captured  for  morality,  nor  is  the  man  one  whit  better  off  because  he 
has  shifted  from  one  evil  desire  to  another  of  the  same  kind.  .The  desire,  the  demand, 
of  the  innermost  soul  of  man  must  be  right,  and  in  accordance  with  the  highest  reason 
of  what  is  for  his  good  before  he  is  on  the  right  road.  It  is  not  by  a  lopping  off  process, 
not  by  an  outward  crushing  force  that  any  man  is  really  helped  or  benefitted,  or  in  any 
manner  morally  improved.     It  is  and  can  be  only  by  an  uprooting  of  the  evil  within 


PROHIBITION  NOT  TEMPERANCE  159 

and  a  planting  and  growing  of  right  seed  in  the  mind  that  will  produce  good  fruit  in  the 
thoughts,  words,  actions,  habits,  character,  and  destiny. 

Edward  Everett  Hale  in  a  carefully  prepared  article  on  "How  To  Think,"  says  in 
speaking  of  those  who  claim  that  we  cannot  control  our  thoughts,  "Such  writers  if  they 
were  pressed,  would  have  to  say  that  you  are  not  to  undertake  any  control  of  bodily 
appetites,  any  more  than  you  undertake  the  control  of  mental  processes.  But  the  truth 
is  that  man  is  master  of  mind,  and  master  of  body,  if  he  will.  Paul  tells  us  what  we  are 
to  think  of,  and  he  goes  on  to  the  other  matter  which  is  more  dangerous,  and  tells  us 
what  we  are  not  to  think  of." 

Take  as  further  illustration  of  the  same  universal  principle  the  power  to  make  money. 
Surely  no  one  will  deny  that  this  is  a  God-given  power  or  faculty,  and  one  like  all  others 
ought  to  be  used  right.  There  is  a  right  use  of  such  power,  or  might  be,  and  there  is  a 
wrong  use  of  it,  as  all  history  past  and  present  will  testify.  Certainly  if  this  power  is 
always  used  fairly,  equitably  and  justly  so  that  no  rights  or  privileges  of  others  are  in- 
fringed or  trespassed  upon,  and  the  laws  of  God  not  trespassed  we  must  concede  this  to 
be  a  proper  and  legitimate  use  of  this  God-given  faculty.  But,  if  this  power  be  used  to 
trample  upon  the  weak  and  infringe  the  rights  of  others,  and  cruel  greed  usurp  the  place 
of  reason,  no  one  will  doubt  but  it  is  now  put  to  a  wrong  use  and  may  rightly  be  con- 
demned. But  here  like  in  the  other  cases,  it  is  the  abuse  or  forbidden  use  of  this  power 
that  is  wrong  and  not  the  power  itself,  not  its  proper  use  that  is  to  be  condemned. 
Neither  should  we  condemn,  prohibit,  nor  try  to  eliminate  the  people  upon  whom  they 
exercise  this  power,  nor  yet  should  we  exterminate  the  means  by  which  the  guilty  abuse 
their  power;  for  it  is  not  the  opportunity  to  get  wealth  or  do  any  wrong  that  is  at  fault, 
or  punishable,  but  the  person  who  voluntarily  puts  to  a  wrong  use  those  God-given  facul- 
ties, which  he  might  and  ought  to  use  for  good  and  in  a  proper  manner.  He  is  the 
culprit,  the  guilty  one,  and  he  should  be  punished  and  taught  the  importance  of  that 
self-control,  self-mastery,  over  this  faculty  which  belongs  to  right  reason. 

If  he  be  the  wealthy  owner  of  a  coal  mine  or  a  gold  mine  and  increases  his  wealth 
by  crushing  the  life  out  of  his  workmen,  by  pavin'?  starvation  wages,  by  shrewdly  and 
with  the  help  of  an  unscrupulous  lawyer  beating  his  laborers  out  of  their  just  dues,  or  by 
other  dishonest  and  unjust  means  mcreases  his  wealth,  it  is  not  the  mme,  nor  his  men,  that 
are  at  fault,  neither  is  the  opportunity  to  blame  for  his  cruel  wron^-doing.  He,  the  man  him- 
self, is  to  blame  and  he  alone  will  be  held  responsible  and  brought  to  account  before  the 
bar  of  Infinite  Justice!  And  so  far  as  human  society  is  concerned,  we  ought  to  teach  the 
truth  and  lay  the  guilt  and  responsibility  where  they  belong.  Yes,  the  power  to  organize 
men  and  develop  great  enterprises  and  amass  enormous  wealth  is  just  as  much  a  God- 
given  power  as  any  of  our  lesser  faculties,  and  it  is  just  as  sacred,  and  we  should  never 
forget  that  we  must  account  to  Him  at  last  for  the  manner  in  which  we  have  used  our 
talents  and  powers  and  no  amount  of  sophistry  or  tricky  law  pleadings  will  avail  before  the 
bar  of  Justice.  There  is  no  harm  in  the  power  or  faculty;  but  harm  and  evil  come 
when  the  power  is  abused,  or  used  in  a  forbidden  manner.  I  repeat  and  emphasize  the 
point,  that  every  power,  faculty,  possession  or  thing  we  have  in  this  world,  or  that  God 
gives  us  the  ability  to  acquire  or  make,  has  a  good  and  legitimate  use  and  should  be  so 
used  by  the  human  race  as  intelligent,  rational,  responsible  beings,  and  when  so  used  will 
be  for  the  benefit  of  the  individual  and  the  race;  but  when  abused,  or  used  in  a  forbidden 
manner  will  bring  disaster  to  the  individual  and  others.  And  finally  that  each  man  is 
responsible  for  his  use  or  abuse  of  any  and  all  of  the  powers  of  his  being  and  his  posses- 
sions.    Upon  these  principles  have  they  based  their  laws  and  customs  in  Equitania. 

All — That  is  very  fine. 

Smart — What  about  Journalism? 

Lamed — One  of  the  leading  editors  in  the  United  States  speaking  of  journalism 
says:  "In  a  large  sense  the  subject  involves  the  functions  of  journalism  as  collector  and 
purveyor  of  news  and  of  leader  and  exponent  of  public  opinion;  the  ethics  of  journalism 
in  its  various  field,  political,  religious,  literary,  social  and  commercial  aim  and  represen- 
tation; the  relations  of  the  counting  room  to  the  editorial  department;  the  training  and 
qualifications  of  the  journalist;  in  short,  the  missions,  methods,  responsibility  and  obliga- 
tions of  journalism.  It  spares  no  expense,  reaches  everywhere,  sends  its  correspondents 
to  all  parts  of  the  world,  employs  the  best  experts  and  specialists,  caters  equally  to  the 


1(10  EQUITAXIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

lovers  of  literature  and  lover  of  sports,  keeps  pace  with  scientific  discovery  and  develop- 
ment, rivals  the  best  periodicals  in  commanding  the  most  famous  writers  and  artists, 
makes  its  own  special  missions  of  public  service,  reports  all  business,  social,  educational, 
philanthropic  and  religious  movements,  and,  in  short,  treats  whatever  concerns  mankind 
as  within  its  boundless  domain.  Newspapers  are  published  to  make  money.  But  while 
newspapers  are  business  enterprises,  they  are  such  with  recognized  limitations  and  obli- 
gations. They  are  not  simply  business  undertakings  but  public  representatives,  and  the 
former  object,  while  consistent  with  the  latter,  is  subordinate  to  it.  The  foundation  of  the 
newspaper  is  the  confidence  of  the  public.  It  is  bound  to  give  the  news  and  to  treat 
public  questions  in  absolute  good  faith.  In  all  legitimate  journalism  it  is  a  fundamental 
rule  that  editorial  opinion  and  news  publication  must  be  beyond  ,the  reach  of  any 
questionable  influence.  Public  confidence  and  moral  power  depend  on  full  faith  that 
editorial  and  news  conduct  is  honest,  fearless  and  upright.  The  press  is  the  most  effective 
force  io  protecting  the  moral  and  social  well  being  of  the  community.  The  blaze  of 
publicity  gives  a  protection  which  nothing  else  furnishes.  In  the  financial  and  social 
world  there  is  a  wide  margin  along  the  shadowy  and  undefined  line  between  law  and 
lawlessness,  between  ethical  duty  and  questionable  interest,  where  the  searchlight  of 
exposure  is  the  only  security.  Much  would  be  done  under  cover  of  darkness  which  fears 
the  light." 

While  he  admits  that  this  is  the  ideal  and  sorrowfully  complains  it  is  too  often 
departed  from  in  the  mad  struggle  to  cater  to  a  morbid  public  curiosity  and  sensational 
news  hunger,  he  thinks  this  should  be  the  standard  of  excellence  sought  and  approved. 
Of  course  all  observers  in  the  country  know  only  too  well  how  far  shart  of  this  ideal  most 
of  our  papers  come,  and  how  they  pander  to  party,  or  religion  or  sensationalism  at  the 
behest  of  their  readers,  and  I  am  wondering  what  they  do  in  Equitania  relative  to  the 
question  of  journalism. 

Horace — This  is  a  most  interesting  question  for  the  editor  from  whom  you  have 
quoted  puts  the  case  in  a  very  forcible  way  and  yet  in  no  manner  exceeds  the  importance 
of  the  press  in  its  influence  as  a  teaching  force  and  its  power  not  only  to  shape  public 
opinion,  but  to  control  men  in  public  and  in  private  life  by  the  wide  publicity  given  to 
so  much  of  their  doings  as  are  of  concern  to  the  public.  Publicity  is  a  preventive  of  many 
evils,  and  a  corrective  of  more,  when  wisely  used. 

In  the  first  place  it  is  well  to  remember  that  in  this  land  the  journalist  (as  well  as 
men  and  women  in  every  other  calling),  is  educated  and  trained  to  believe  in  and  adopt 
the  same  high  standard  of  morals  already  mentioned  and  he  enters  upon  his  career  with 
this  in  mind. 

In  the  next  place  he  is  trained  specially  for  his  field  of  usefulness  when  found  to 
have  a  bent  in  this  direction.  Again  he  is  forbidden  to  libel  or  slander  any  of  his  fellow- 
men,  and  what  he  prints  as  news  must  be  truthful  and  his  editorials  must  be  based  upon 
facts  in  order  to  hold  public  confidence.  He  is  made  to  appreciate  his  power  for  good  or 
evil  by  the  public  approval  of  a  true  course,  and  the  public  condemnation  and  penalty 
meted  out  when  an  evil  course  is  followed. 

A  most  instructive  thing  and  one  very  helpful  in  maintaining  a  high  standard  of 
excellence  is  the  honor  conferred  and  the  promotion  made  to  those  who  excel  in  these 
high  ideals.  The  Federal  Government  conducts  through  its  own  special  journalistic  depart- 
ment a  great  daily  paper  whose  editorial  staff  goes  with  the  administration  and  expounds  in 
an  official  way  the  plans,  policies  and  reasons  sustaining  them,  of  the  party  in  power,  thus 
setting  an  example  of  clean,  upright,  and  forceful  journalism  not  only  in  its  editorials, 
news  and  literary  style,  but  in  its  advertisements  and  all  that  goes  with  a  great  paper  to 
make  it  a  wise,  useful  and  helpful  teacher  to  all  classes  of  society. 

In  brief,  what  you  have  quoted  as  the  ideal  of  one  of  your  own  great  editors  is  carried 
out  in  practice  and  found  to  be  both  feasible  and  practicable.  In  fact  the  papers,  maga- 
zines and  journals  are  recognized  as  the  greatest  teachers  and  most  potent  influences  in 
the  republic.  The  recognized  educators  are  in  the  order  of  their  importance,  homes, 
schools  and  colleges,  the  public  press,  preachers  and  public  speakers  of  all  kinds;  and  to 
all  of  these  the  great  necessity  of  careful  observance  of  the  moral  law  is  ever  taught,  and 
that  one  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness,'  or,  truthfulness  is  duly  emphasized. 

You  will  say  from  these  suggestions  that  the  Equitanians  regard  the  functions  of 
the  physician,  the  lawyer,  the  judge,  the  journalist  and  the  teacher,  with  the  theologian. 


THE  LEARNED  PROFESSIONS  161 

as  most  important  in  the  welfare  of  the  state;  in  fact  they  say  upon  these  rest  modern 
civilization,  and  all  hope  of  progress  or  advancement  in  morals,  science  or  government. 
In  proportion  to  the  importance  of  any  structure  are  the  foundations  upon  which  it  rests. 
If  today  the  enlightenment  and  stability  of  society  are  of  any  vast  consequence,  so  are 
the  props  upon  which  they  depend.  If  you  were  to  shatter  present  civilization  and  throw 
the  world  back  into  the  barbarism  and  ignorance  of  2,000  years  ago  you  would  commit 
a  crime  of  inestimable  magnitude  upon  humanity.  If  you  were  to  turn  back  the  wheels 
of  progress  in  government,  health  and  morals,  you  could  not  compute  the  evil  accom- 
plished. If  you  were  to  remove  all  of  the  sources  of  strength  in  the  onward,  triumphant 
march  of  civilization  you  would  be  an  enemy  to  the  race  and  a  traitor  to  mankind.  Just 
m  proportion  to  the  extent  of  your  influence  in  thus  turning  backward  the  chariot  of 
advancement  would  your  culpability  be. 

When  the  Almighty  crowned  His  work  of  creation  by  bringing  man  upon  the  scene. 
He  had  not  labored  in  vain.  He  fitted  every  individual  man  to  fill  a  specific  place  and 
gave  him  a  useful  mission  in  the  world. 

No  man  is  meant  to  be  a  cipher.  Each  man  is  endowed  with  abilities,  talents  and 
powers  to  fit  him  for  a  useful  service  if  he  will  but  see  his  field,  develop  his  powers,  and 
wisely  use  them  in  the  sphere  for  which  he  is  fitted.  Every  boy  should  be  trained  to  believe 
that  he  has  a  definite  place  in  the  world  to  fill,  and  that  it  should  be  his  business,  and  a 
part  of  his  education  to  find  out  just  what  that  place  is  and  then  fill  it  full. 

The  law  has  to  do  with  our  civil  obligations,  our  duties  and  rights  to  each  other  as 
members  of  society. 

Medicine  has  to  do  with  the  health  of  the  individual  and  of  the  community,  the 
preservation  of  health,  and  the  prolongation  of  life. 

Theology  has  to  do  with  the  religious  obligations  of  men  to  the  Almighty. 

The  highest  standard  of  civilization  today,  and  that  which  has  ever  been,  as  you  look 
back  over  the  pages  of  history,  and  that  which  ever  will  be,  is  that  in  which  men  are  best 
protected  in  their  natural  rights,  the  mind  and  body  are  most  carefully  looked  after,  and 
in  which  there  is  the  greatest  recognition  of  personal  accountability  to  Jehovah,  or  most 
universal  love  to  God  and  man. 

Given  a  man  sound  in  body  and  mind,  protected  and  secure  in  all  his  civil  rights, 
conscious  of  his  personal  accountability  to  Jehovah,  and  you  have  a  man  who  can  use 
his  opportunities  to  the  best  advantage  and  the  possibilities  of  development  are  bevond 
compare.  For  any  mortal  man  to  make  the  most  of  himself  in  every  attribute  of  his  God- 
given  being,  he  must  have  these  three  things  in  suitable  environment.  First,  Be  secure 
in  his  natural  rights.  Second,  Have  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  Third,  Have  right 
Views  of  and  right  relations  to  Jehovah  and  his  fellowmen.  Such  a  man  may  then  pursue 
untrammeled  any  study,  investigation,  work,  or  calling  to  which  his  bent  of  mind  inclines 
him,  and  he  will  be  a  useful  man,  a  blessing  to  any  community,  and  a  benefactor  lo  the 
race.  The  learned  professions  have  had  in  the  past,  and  are  trying  even  now,  working 
hand  in  hand,  to  secure  to  all  mankind  these  ideal  conditions,  and  therefore  they  are 
called  the  learned  professions,  for  without  the  foregoing,  underlying  principles  not  even 
progress  can  be  made,  much  less  ideal  conditions  reached. 

The  law  should  secure  to  every  man,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  those  rights  which 
naturally  belong  to  him. 

Medicine  should  secure  to  the  individual  and  the  community  the  largest  possible 
measure  of  mental  soundness  and  physical  vigor. 

Theology  should  secure  to  men  right  views  of  the  Almighty  and  correct  relations  to 
Him. 

Who  are  the  learned  men?  Are  they  not  those  who  know  best  how  to  make  the  most 
of  their  environment,  to  attain  the  ends  of  their  creation? 

The  lawyer  who  prostitutes  his  profession  to  enable  his  client  to  escape  the  just 
deserts  of  his  crime  is  a  menace  to  society,  and  a  blot  upon  his  profession. 

The  law  should  secure  to  every  man  his  rights;  but  when  it  lets  a  guilty  one  escape, 
it  deprives  the  entire  community  of  their  rights,  and  therefore  whoever  helps  in  these 
diabolical  acts  is  an  enemy  to  society  and  ought  to  be  suppressed. 

The  physician  who  degrades  his  profession,  for  whatever  cause,  to  help  a  patient 
commit  a  crime,  or  violate  the  law,  or  bring  upon  himself  disease,  decay  and  death,  is  a 
disgrace  to  his  calling  and  a  destroyer  of  mankind. 


162  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF  EQUITY 

To  commit  an  abortion,  to  teach  licentiousness,  drunkenness,  or  other  things  detri- 
mental to  physical  and  mental  soundness  are  exactly  opposed  to  the  physician's  calling, 
which  is  to  prevent  suffering,  promote  health  of  body  and  mind,  and  prevent  death. 
Iherefore  he  who  joins  the  ranks  of  that  profession  and  does  not  lend  his  energies  posi- 
tively, actively  and  persistently  to  this  end,  is  an  infamous  fraud,  a  human  monstrosity, 
and  a  menace  to  the  human  family. 

Theology  has  to  do  with  man's  relations  and  duties  to  God  as  well  as  his  moral  obli- 
gations to  his  fellowmen.  He  who  for  the  sake  of  popularity,  filthy  lucre,  or  other  cause, 
joins  the  ranks  of  the  sacred  ministry  and  prostitutes  his  high  calling  by  failing  to  declare 
the  whole  counsel  of  God  is  a  coward,  a  poltroon,  a  deceiver,  and  shall  receive  the  just 
condemnation  of  those  who  knew  the  Master's  will  and  did  it  not. 

All  members  of  the  learned  professions,  including  medicine,  law,  theology,  journalism 
and  pedagogy,  stand  as  beacon  lights  in  the  world.  They  have  voluntarily  assumed  a 
higher  plane  than  their  fellows,  and  are  so  much  the  more  responsible.  Not  that  the 
educated  man  is  necessarily  any  better  than  the  ignorant  man,  but  that  he  stands  upon  a 
broader  field,  his  opportunities  are  greater  than  his  less  forfunate  fellows.  He  is  as  a 
man  who  has  ascended  the  mountain,  while  his  fellows  remain  in  the  valley.  Upon  the 
mountain  top  he  has  a  wider  vision.  While  the  vision  of  his  friend  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  is  narrow  and  circumscribed. 

The  more  widely  informed  a  man  becomes  the  greater  his  influence  for  good  or  evil, 
and  the  more  his  responsibility  is  increased.  Hence  it  is  that  members  of  the  learned 
profession  are  as  light-houses  disseminating  light  far  and  near  for  multitudes  of  the  race 
to  guide  their  life  boats  oy,  and  woe  unto  that  man  whose  light  deceives  a  fellow  traveler. 
Last  summer  I  took  a  boat  near  Buffalo  to  sail  for  Toronto.  Soon  the  darkness 
gathered  about,  but  our  ship  kept  steadily  on  her  way  as  we  made  for  Toronto  Bay.  As 
we  drew  near  we  passed  by  a  bell-buoy  which  marked  a  danger  place  our  ship  must 
needs  avoid.  How  we  might  wish  that  some  of  those  in  the  learned  professions  could  be 
thus  marked  to  warn  the  unwary  of  their  dangerous  and  pernicious  influence.  But 
soon  we  saw  the  light-house  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bay,  and  our  pilot  steered  the  ship 
slowly  but  safely  into  the  harbor.  A  few  days  later  as  we  sailed  out  past  the  light-house, 
and  I  saw  what  a  narrow  mouth  we  had  sailed  through,  and  how  the  safety  of  the  ship  and 
its  passengers  depended  upon  the  light-house  being  just  exactly  where  it  was,  and  shedding 
its  true  and  unfailing  light,  I  realized  more  than  ever  before  the  importance  of  each 
human  being  exerting  a  positive  influence  for  good  always  and  everywhere.  How  much 
more  is  this  true  of  the  various  members  of  the  learned  professions. 

I  hold  the  legal  profession  responsible  for  a  large  part  of  the  lynchings  in  this  country, 
and  for  no  very  small  part  of  crime  of  every  kind. 

When  the  community,  the  courts,  and  the  reputable  lawyers  themselves  will  not 
tolerate  an  attorney  who  willfully  tries  to  help  his  client  escape  a  reasonable  and  just 
punishment  for  his  crimes,  then  and  only  then  shall  we  have  better  observance  of  law  and 
fewer  criminals.  The  courts,  and  sentimentalists  may  try  as  much  as  they  please  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  about  drunkenness  being  the  chief  cause  of  increased 
crime  in  our  land,  but  it  is  not  true  and  does  not  compare  in  importance  with  the  cause 
above  indicated.  Men  in  crime  and  out  of  it  are  entitled  to  their  rights  and  justice,  but 
all  are  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  the  same  justice.  Too  often  our  courts  and  many 
of  our  lawyers,  like  anarchists,  construe  liberty  to  mean  license,  and  in  just  so  far  as  they 
do,  both  are  a  menace  to  real  liberty  and  true  civilization. 

Smart — I  am  reminded  that  in  a  very  able  address  by  Albert  H.  Hall  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and  Criminology  upon  the  subject,  "The  duty  of  the  law  maker 
to  the  law  breaker,"  which  was  delivered  in  St.  Louis  before  the  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections,  he  said: 

"That  the  final  aim  of  the  state  must  be  expansion  and  elevation  of  human 

life  by  providing  the  most  favorable  conditions  and  means  for  its  cultivation  and 

development. 

"That  education  must  be  held  not  the  mere  gift  and  benefit  of  the  state,  but  its 

most  imperative  function  and  duty;    that  education  must  not  only  continue  to  be 

physical,  intellectual  and  industrial  in  its  scope;  it  must  be  moral. 


THE  LEARNED  PROFESSIONS  161 

as  most  important  in  the  welfare  of  the  state;  in  fact  they  say  upon  these  rest  modern 
civilization,  and  all  hope  of  progress  or  advancement  in  morals,  science  or  government. 
In  proportion  to  the  importance  of  any  structure  are  the  foundations  upon  which  it  rests. 
If  today  the  enlightenment  and  stability  of  society  are  of  any  vast  consequence,  so  are 
the  props  upon  which  they  depend.  If  you  were  to  shatter  present  civilization  and  throw 
the  world  back  into  the  barbarism  and  ignorance  of  2,000  years  ago  you  would  commit 
a  crime  of  inestimable  magnitude  upon  humanity.  If  you  were  to  turn  back  the  wheels 
of  progress  in  government,  health  and  morals,  you  could  not  compute  the  evil  accom- 
plished. If  you  were  to  remove  all  of  the  sources  of  strength  in  the  onward,  triumphant 
march  of  civilization  you  would  be  an  enemy  to  the  race  and  a  traitor  to  mankind.  Just 
in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  your  influence  in  thus  turning  backward  the  chariot  of 
advancement  would  your  culpability  be. 

When  the  Almighty  crowned  His  work  of  creation  by  bringing  man  upon  the  scene. 
He  had  not  labored  in  vain.  He  fitted  every  individual  man  to  fill  a  specific  place  and 
gave  him  a  useful  mission  in  the  world. 

No  man  is  meant  to  be  a  cipher.  Each  man  is  endowed  with  abilities,  talents  and 
powers  to  fit  him  for  a  useful  service  if  he  will  but  see  his  field,  develop  his  powers,  and 
wisely  use  them  in  the  sphere  for  which  he  is  fitted.  Every  boy  should  be  trained  to  believe 
that  he  has  a  definite  place  in  the  world  to  fill,  and  that  it  should  be  his  business,  and  a 
part  of  his  education  to  find  out  just  what  that  place  is  and  then  fill  it  full. 

The  law  has  to  do  with  our  civil  obligations,  our  duties  and  rights  to  each  other  as 
members  of  society. 

Medicine  has  to  do  with  the  health  of  the  individual  and  of  the  community,  the 
preservation  of  health,  and  the  prolongation  of  life. 

Theology  has  to  do  with  the  religious  obligations  of  men  to  the  Almighty. 

The  highest  standard  of  civilization  today,  and  that  which  has  ever  been,  as  you  look 
back  over  the  pages  of  history,  and  that  which  ever  will  be,  is  that  in  which  men  are  best 
protected  in  their  natural  rights,  the  mind  and  body  are  most  carefully  looked  after,  and 
in  which  there  is  the  greatest  recognition  of  personal  accountability  to  Jehovah,  or  most 
universal  love  to  God  and  man. 

Given  a  man  sound  in  body  and  mind,  protected  and  secure  in  all  his  civil  rights, 
conscious  of  his  personal  accountability  to  Jehovah,  and  you  have  a  man  who  can  use 
his  opportunities  to  the  best  advantage  and  the  possibilities  of  development  are  beyond 
compare.  For  any  mortal  man  to  make  the  most  of  himself  in  every  attribute  of  his  God- 
given  being,  he  must  have  these  three  things  in  suitable  environment.  First,  Be  secure 
in  his  natural  rights.  Second,  Have  a  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body.  Third,  Have  right 
Views  of  and  right  relations  to  Jehovah  and  his  fellowmen.  Such  a  man  may  then  pursue 
untrammeled  any  study,  investigation,  work,  or  calling  to  which  his  bent  of  mind  inclines 
him,  and  he  will  be  a  useful  man,  a  blessing  to  any  community,  and  a  benefactor  to  the 
race.  The  learned  professions  have  had  in  the  past,  and  are  trying  even  now,  working 
hand  in  hand,  to  secure  to  all  mankind  these  ideal  conditions,  and  therefore  they  are 
called  the  learned  professions,  for  without  the  foregoing,  underlying  principles  not  even 
progress  can  be  made,  much  less  ideal  conditions  reached. 

The  law  should  secure  to  every  man,  high  or  low,  rich  or  poor,  those  rights  which 
naturally  belong  to  him. 

Medicine  should  secure  to  the  individual  and  the  community  the  largest  possible 
measure  of  mental  soundness  and  physical  vigor. 

Theology  should  secure  to  men  right  views  of  the  Almighty  and  correct  relations  to 

Him.  ,       , 

Who  are  the  learned  men?  Are  they  not  those  who  know  best  how  to  make  the  most 
of  their  environment,  to  attain  the  ends  of  their  creation? 

The  lawyer  who  prostitutes  his  profession  to  enable  his  client  to  escape  the  just 
deserts  of  his  crime  is  a  menace  to  society,  and  a  blot  upon  his  profession. 

The  law  should  secure  to  every  man  his  rights;  but  when  it  lets  a  guilty  one  escape, 
it  deprives  the  entire  community  of  their  rights,  and  therefore  whoever  helps  in  these 
diabolical  acts  is  an  enemy  to  society  and  ought  to  be  suppressed. 

The  physician  who  degrades  his  profession,  for  whatever  cause,  to  help  a  patient 
commit  a  crime,  or  violate  the  law,  or  bring  upon  himself  disease,  decay  and  death,  is  a 
disgrace  to  his  calling  and  a  destroyer  of  mankind. 


162  EQUITANIA,  OR  THE  LAND  OF  EQUITY 

To  commit  an  abortion,  to  teach  licentiousness,  drunkenness,  or  other  things  detri- 
mental to  physical  and  mental  soundness  are  exactly  opposed  to  the  physician's  calling, 
which  is  to  prevent  suffering,  promote  health  of  body  and  mind,  and  prevent  death. 
Therefore  he  who  joins  the  ranks  of  that  profession  and  does  not  lend  his  energies  posi- 
tively, actively  and  persistently  to  this  end,  is  an  infamous  fraud,  a  human  monstrosity, 
and  a  menace  to  the  human  family. 

Theology  has  to  do  with  man's  relations  and  duties  to  God  as  well  as  his  moral  obli- 
gations to  his  fellowmen.  He  who  for  the  sake  of  popularity,  filthy  lucre,  or  other  cause, 
joins  the  ranks  of  the  sacred  ministry  and  prostitutes  his  high  calling  by  failing  to  declare 
the  whole  counsel  of  God  is  a  coward,  a  poltroon,  a  deceiver,  and  shall  receive  the  just 
condemnation  of  those  who  knew  the  Master's  will  and  did  it  not. 

All  members  of  the  learned  professions,  including  medicine,  law,  theology,  journalism 
and  pedagogy,  stand  as  beacon  lights  in  the  world.  They  have  voluntarily  assumed  a 
higher  plane  than  their  fellows,  and  are  so  much  the  more  responsible.  Not  that  the 
educated  man  is  necessarily  any  better  than  the  ignorant  man,  but  that  he  stands  upon  a 
broader  field,  his  opportunities  are  greater  than  his  less  forfunate  fellows.  He  is  as  a 
man  who  has  ascended  the  mountain,  while  his  fellows  remain  in  the  valley.  Upon  the 
mountain  top  he  has  a  wider  vision.  While  the  vision  of  his  friend  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountain  is  narrow  and  circumscribed. 

The  more  widely  informed  a  man  becomes  the  greater  his  influence  for  good  or  evil, 
and  the  more  his  responsibility  is  increased.  Hence  it  is  that  members  of  the  learned 
profession  are  as  light-houses  disseminating  light  far  and  near  for  multitudes  of  the  race 
to  guide  their  life  boats  oy,  and  woe  unto  that  man  whose  light  deceives  a  fellow  traveler. 

Last  summer  I  took  a  boat  near  Buffalo  to  sail  for  Toronto.  Soon  the  darkness 
gathered  about,  but  our  ship  kept  steadily  on  her  way  as  we  made  for  Toronto  Bay.  As 
we  drew  near  we  passed  by  a  bell-buoy  which  marked  a  danger  place  our  ship  must 
needs  avoid.  How  we  might  wish  that  some  of  those  in  the  learned  professions  could  be 
thus  marked  to  warn  the  unwary  of  their  dangerous  and  pernicious  influence.  But 
soon  we  saw  the  light-house  at  the  mouth  of  the  Bay,  and  our  pilot  steered  the  ship 
slowly  but  safely  into  the  harbor.  A  few  days  later  as  we  sailed  out  past  the  light-house, 
and  I  saw  what  a  narrow  mouth  we  had  sailed  through,  and  how  the  safety  of  the  ship  and 
its  passengers  depended  upon  the  light-house  being  just  exactly  where  it  was,  and  shedding 
its  true  and  unfailing  light,  I  realized  more  than  ever  before  the  importance  of  each 
human  being  exerting  a  positive  influence  for  good  always  and  everywhere.  How  much 
more  is  this  true  of  the  various  members  of  the  learned  professions. 

I  hold  the  legal  profession  responsible  for  a  large  part  of  the  lynchings  in  this  country, 
and  for  no  very  small  part  of  crime  of  every  kind. 

When  the  community,  the  courts,  and  the  reputable  lawyers  themselves  will  not 
tolerate  an  attorney  who  willfully  tries  to  help  his  client  escape  a  reasonable  and  just 
punishment  for  his  crimes,  then  and  only  then  shall  we  have  better  observance  of  law  and 
fewer  criminals.  The  courts,  and  sentimentalists  may  try  as  much  as  they  please  to 
throw  dust  in  the  eyes  of  the  public  about  drunkenness  being  the  chief  cause  of  increased 
crime  in  our  land,  but  it  is  not  true  and  does  not  compare  in  importance  with  the  cause 
above  indicated.  Men  in  crime  and  out  of  it  are  entitled  to  their  rights  and  justice,  but 
all  are  entitled  to  the  same  rights  and  the  same  justice.  Too  often  our  courts  and  many 
of  our  lawyers,  like  anarchists,  construe  liberty  to  mean  license,  and  in  just  so  far  as  they 
do,  both  are  a  menace  to  real  liberty  and  true  civilization. 

Smart — I  am  reminded  that  in  a  very  able  address  by  Albert  H.  Hall  of  the  American 
Institute  of  Criminal  Law  and  Criminology  upon  the  subject,  "The  duty  of  the  law  maker 
to  the  law  breaker,"  which  was  delivered  in  St.  Louis  before  the  Conference  of  Charities 
and  Corrections,  he  said: 

"That  the  final  aim  of  the  state  must  be  expansion  and  elevation  of  human 

life  by  providing  the  most  favorable  conditions  and  means  for  its  cultivation  and 

development. 

"That  education  must  be  held  not  the  mere  gift  and  benefit  of  the  state,  but  its 

most  imperative  function  and  duty;    that  education  must  not  only  continue  to  be 

physical,  intellectual  and  industrial  in  its  scope ;  it  must  be  moral. 


PRINCIPLES  OF  GOVERNMENT  163 

"The  law-maker  might,  and  presumably  should,  try  to  do  the  following  things, 
viz: 

"First.  Safe-guard  the  doorway  of  life  and  exert  every  precaution  against  the 
birth  of  the  degenerate  and  unfit. 

"Second.  Protect  and  safeguard  childhood. 

"Third.  Protect  and  safe-guard  the  conditions  and  improve  and  elevate  the 
environment  essential  to  full  individual  and  social  life." 

"The  hope  of  humanity  hangs  on  no  less  a  span  than  that  which  over-arches 
the  heavens  and  comes  down  to  the  lowest  levels  of  life,  and  perfectly  blends  into 
the  beauty  of  its  universal  embrace  every  shade  and  type  of  life,  the  Love  of  God, 
the  One  Creator  and  the  only  Re-Creator-of  human  life. 

"Indeed,  it  seems  very  clear  that  much  of  the  art  of  living  consists  of  self- 
control,  the  development  of  which  in  the  individual  is  the  unconscious  but  perhaps 
primary  purpose  of  family,  church,  state,  laws,  customs,  and  most  social  institutions, 
and  that  the  progress  of  the  world  and  the  advancement  of  personal  liberty  is  just 
in  proportion  as  the  power  of  self-control  has  been  developed  in  the  community  at 
large. 

"If  this  be  so,  magnanimity,  a  large,  intelligent,  paternal,  pedagogical  attitude 
is  the  proper  one  towards  all,  and  especially  towards  juvenile  offenders." 

Horace — Very  good.  I  am  sure  we  all  say  amen  to  that,  and  you  see  how  well  it 
harmonizes  with  the  sentiment  which  prevails  in  Equitania. 

I  hope  you  have  read  the  little  pamphlets  given,  and  that  you  see  there  the  basis  for 
their  educational  system  along  the  lines  of  sex,  and  you  can  readily  understand  why  they 
adopt  the  plan  for  temperence  and  social  purity  they  do,  and  why  they  have  so  little 
trouble  in  securing  justice  for  all  classes,  and  why  there  is  little  or  no  complaint  among 
the  subjects,  and  why  so  great  peace  and  happiness  prevails  there  among  all  the  people. 

Smart — I  have  been  greatly  interested  and  instructed  m  the  discussion,  but  I  have 
been  specially  impressed  with  what  you  say  about  their  laws,  their  courts,  and  their  method 
of  procedure;  but  now  let  me  briefly  enumerate  the  points  and  pray  tell  me  whether  or 
not  I  have  correctly  understood  you: 

"I.  The  Equitanians  have  established  their  government  upon  the  basis  that 
all  men  are  created  free  and  equal  in  their  natural  rights;  and  that  among  their 
inalienable  rights  are  the  right  to  Hfe,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  in  any 
manner  they  please  so  long  as  they  do  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others.  And 
that  they  bind  themselves  together  for  mutual  protection  and  helpfulness  which 
means  to  safe-guard  them  in  their  lives,  their  possessions  and  their  rights  and  afford 
them  opportunity  for  personal  growth  and  development,  with  the  personal  privilege 
of  time  and  freedom  for  religious  culture  without  let  or  hindrance. 

"2.  They  believe  man  has  four-fold  duties,  which  are  separate  and  distinct,  one 
from  the  other,  as  follows: 

"a.  Religious  Duties,  those  pertaining  to  his  personal  relation  with  his  Maker, 
and  with  which  earthly  governments  have  nothing  to  do  further  than  secure  him  in 
this  right  and  allow  him  time,  opportunity,  and  liberty  to  pursue  in  his  own  way. 

"b.  Personal  Duties,  those  pertaining  to  himself,  and  those  peculiarly  depending 
upon  him.  It  is  the  business  of  the  state  to  help  him  in  this  struggle,  by  affording 
him  opportunity  for  work,  recreation,  rest,  culture,  and  protect  him  in  his  effort  as 
before  outlined. 

"c.  Moral  Duties,  those  which  he  owes  to  his  fellow  men  as  belonging  to  the 
same  race  of  responsibile,  intelligent  beings  as  himself,  and  those  which  he  owes  to 
all  the  lower  animal  creation.  And  to  develop  and  promote  these  the  state  has  wisely 
adopted  a  moral  code,  which  is  the  standard  of  moral  excellence  required  by  the 
state  in  the  outward  actions  of  men  one  toward  another,  and  of  men  toward  the 
lower  animals.  . 

"d.  Civil  Duties,  those  which  all  subjects  owe  to  one  another,  because  of  their 
association  together  in  government,  and  by  reason  of  which  organized  society 
exists  among  men,  and  therefore  men  may  readily  and  properly  join  in  helping,  pro- 
tecting, and  defending  one  another  in  temporal  and  material  affairs,  while  being 
entirely  free  to  do  as  they  may  choose  in  spiritual  or  religious  matters. 


1G4  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

"3.  They  believe  then  that  laws  and  courts  should  carefully  make  these  distinc- 
tions, and  their  sole  purpose  and  aim  is  to  mete  out  justice  to  all  of  the  Equitanians, 
and  secure  them  all  in  their  natural  rights,  while  protecting  them  in  their  civil, 
personal,  and  religious  rights.  And  in  their  dealings  with  other  peoples  or  nations 
they  would  use  the  moral  code  as  bindmg  and  guiding  them. 

"4.  The  Judge  must  not  be  from  the  legal  profession  because  it  is  choosing  one 
from  a  special  class  who  has  been  trained  simply  in  law,  procedure,  precedent,  tech- 
nicalities, and  theories;  and  it  is  unfair  to  the  ordinary  citizen  that  any  class, 
however  learned,  should  make,  interpret,  and  practically  execute  the  laws,  for  while 
human  nature  is  selfish,  so  much  power  to  any  class  always  leads  in  time  to  arrogance, 
tyranny,  and  oppression." 

Horace — Yes,  you  have  very  well  interpreted  in  a  brief  way  the  fundamental  things 
of  the  government  in  Equitania.  Of  course  you  must  not  forget  that  they  go  back  to  the 
very  basis  of  all  authority,  namely:  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  and  say  that  all 
power  comes  from  Him,  and  that  to  Him  every  human  being  must  give  account  first  for 
his  acts,  whether  public  or  private,  and  this  makes  judge  and  lawyer  as  well  as  officers 
and  private  individuals  more  considerate  of  their  fellow  men  in  the  discharge  of  their  daily 
duties. 

Rev.  Jones — I  have  been  so  much  taken  with  this  whole  discussion,  that  I  would  like 
to  present  my  conception  of  the  religious  system  over  there  and  see  if  I  have  the  correct 
idea  of  it. 

"Pirst — They  believe  that  religion  is  the  highest  conception  of  the  human  soul, 
in  that  it  binds  the  individual  back  to  the  very  source  of  his  being  and  is  the  real 
internal  and  vital  connection  of  the  individual  with  his  Maker,  and  is  therefore  the 
chosen  and  voluntary  altitude  of  the  mind  toward  its  source,  and  hence  is  neither 
amenable  to  the  laws  of  man,  nor  subject  to  man's  dictation. 

"Second — They  believe  instruction,  persuasion,  and  the  force  of  example  in  daily 
life  to  be,  humanly  speaking,  man's  most  potent  influence  in  leading  others  to  choose 
in  truth  and  reaHty  the  religious  Hfe.  And  that  coercion  by  physical  force  or  mere 
human  legal  enactment  to  be  positively  detrimental  to  true  religion. 

"Third — They  believe  true  religion  cannot  only  best  be  propagated  in  the 
world  by  this  method,  but  that  it  is  the  only  way  to  do  so.  And,  further,  that  true 
religion  does  not  need  the  force  of  arms  to  spread  it;  but  neither  does  it  need  a  wall 
built  about  it,  not  civil  enactments  against  false  religions,  for  truth  alone  can  bear 
the  full  light  of  publicity  and  perfect  freedom.  That  a  strong  and  growing  proof 
against  error  in  religion  as  well  as  science  is  its  clamor  for  the  protection  of  law  or 
force  of  any  kind  against  competition. 

"Fourth — They  allow  each  kind  of  religion  to  formulate  its  own  creed,  and 
worship  in  its  own  way;  the  civil  government  protecting  them  all  in  these  rights, 
simply  on  the  ground  that  while  they  differ  in  their  religious  beliefs  and  practices, 
they  agree  upon  the  earthly,  temporal,  and  material  things  which  they  all  want,  and 
form  a  civil  government  upon  these  things,  and  all  co-operate  to  make  it  effective 
and  grant  them  religious  liberty,  which  is  a  part  of  every  man's  need." 

Horace — I  am  delighted  to  see  how  clearly  you  have  put  the  matter,  for  it  shows  that 
you  have  given  careful  attention,  and  have  quickly  appreciated  the  plan. 

Professor  Johnson — If  I  rightly  understand  their  plan  of  education,  I  may  say  it  has 
strongly  appealed  to  me  as  being  sound. 

"Pirst — They  agree  upon  a  moral  code  for  the  individual  in  his  public  and 
private  life  as  a  basis  for  sound  education  and  the  development  of  a  worthy 
character.  And  while  they  do  not  adopt  any  particular  kind  of  religion  as  official, 
yet  I  take  it  they  recognize  a  Supreme  Being,  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  to  whom  in 
come  important  sense  every  human  being  is  accountable  as  essential  to  the  best 
type  of  moral  character,  and  that  this  Supreme  Being  would  approve  of  no  lower 
standard  of  a  Moral  Code  than  the  one  adopted  by  the  Equitanians. 

"Second — They  make  their  schools  intensely  practical  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest.  They  teach  all  the  essential  things  to  make  intelligent,  useful,  and 
self-supporting    subjects,    capable    if    possible    of    good    citizenship.      They    make 


PRINCIPLES  OF  GOVERNMENT  163 

"The  law-maker  might,  and  presumably  should,  try  to  do  the  following  things, 
viz: 

"First.  Safe-guard  the  doorway  of  life  and  exert  every  precaution  against  the 
birth  of  the  degenerate  and  unfit. 

"Second.  Protect  and  safeguard  childhood. 

"Third.  Protect  and  safe-guard  the  conditions  and  improve  and  elevate  the 
environment  essential  to  full  individual  and  social  life." 

"The  hope  of  humanity  hangs  on  no  less  a  span  than  that  which  over-arches 
the  heavens  and  comes  down  to  the  lowest  levels  of  life,  and  perfectly  blends  into 
the  beauty  of  its  universal  embrace  every  shade  and  type  of  life,  the  Love  of  God, 
the  One  Creator  and  the  only  Re-Creator-of  human  life. 

"Indeed,  it  seems  very  clear  that  much  of  the  art  of  living  consists  of  self- 
control,  the  development  of  which  in  the  individual  is  the  unconscious  but  perhaps 
primary  purpose  of  family,  church,  state,  laws,  customs,  and  most  social  institutions, 
and  that  the  progress  of  the  world  and  the  advancement  of  personal  liberty  is  just 
in  proportion  as  the  power  of  self-control  has  been  developed  in  the  community  at 
large. 

"If  this  be  so,  magnanimity,  a  large,  intelligent,  paternal,  pedagogical  attitude 
is  the  proper  one  towards  all,  and  especially  towards  juvenile  offenders." 

Horace — Very  good.  I  am  sure  we  all  say  amen  to  that,  and  you  see  how  well  it 
harmonizes  with  the  sentiment  which  prevails  in  Equitania. 

I  hope  you  have  read  the  little  pamphlets  given,  and  that  you  see  there  the  basis  for 
their  educational  system  along  the  lines  of  sex,  and  you  can  readily  understand  why  they 
adopt  the  plan  for  temperence  and  social  purity  they  do,  and  why  they  have  so  little 
trouble  in  securing  justice  for  all  classes,  and  why  there  is  little  or  no  complaint  among 
the  subjects,  and  why  so  great  peace  and  happiness  prevails  there  among  all  the  people. 

Smart — I  have  been  greatly  interested  and  instructed  in  the  discussion,  but  I  have 
been  specially  impressed  with  what  you  say  about  their  laws,  their  courts,  and  their  method 
of  procedure;  but  now  let  me  briefly  enumerate  the  points  and  pray  tell  me  whether  or 
not  I  have  correctly  understood  you : 

"1.  The  Equitanians  have  established  their  government  upon  the  basis  that 
all  men  are  created  free  and  equal  in  their  natural  rights;  and  that  among  their 
inalienable  rights  are  the  right  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  in  any 
manner  they  please  so  long  as  they  do  not  infringe  upon  the  rights  of  others.  And 
that  they  bind  themselves  together  for  mutual  protection  and  helpfulness  which 
means  to  safe-guard  them  in  their  lives,  their  possessions  and  their  rights  and  afford 
them  opportunity  for  personal  growth  and  development,  with  the  personal  privilege 
of  time  and  freedom  for  religious  culture  without  let  or  hindrance. 

"2.  They  believe  man  has  four-fold  duties,  which  are  separate  and  distinct,  one 
from  the  other,  as  follows: 

"a.  Religious  Duties,  those  pertaining  to  his  personal  relation  with  his  Maker, 
and  with  which  earthly  governments  have  nothing  to  do  further  than  secure  him  in 
this  right  and  allow  him  time,  opportunity,  and  liberty  to  pursue  in  his  own  way. 

"b.  Personal  Duties,  those  pertaining  to  himself,  and  those  peculiarly  depending 
upon  him.  It  is  the  business  of  the  state  to  help  him  in  this  struggle,  by  affording 
him  opportunity  for  work,  recreation,  rest,  culture,  and  protect  him  in  his  effort  as 
before  outlined. 

"c.  Moral  Duties,  those  which  he  owes  to  his  fellow  men  as  belonging  to  the 
same  race  of  responsibile,  intelligent  beings  as  himself,  and  those  which  he  owes  to 
all  the  lower  animal  creation.  And  to  develop  and  promote  these  the  state  has  wisely 
adopted  a  moral  code,  which  is  the  standard  of  moral  excellence  required  by  the 
state  in  the  outward  actions  of  men  one  toward  another,  and  of  men  toward  the 
lower  animals. 

"d.  Civil  Duties,  those  which  all  subjects  owe  to  one  another,  because  of  their 
association  together  in  government,  and  by  reason  of  which  organized  society 
exists  among  men,  and  therefore  men  may  readily  and  properly  join  in  helping,  pro- 
tecting, and  defending  one  another  in  temporal  and  material  affairs,  while  being 
entirely  free  to  do  as  they  may  choose  in  spiritual  or  religious  matters. 


1G4  EQUITANIA,   OR   THE   LAND   OF  EQUITY 

"3.  They  believe  then  that  laws  and  courts  should  carefully  make  these  distinc- 
tions, and  their  sole  purpose  and  aim  is  to  mete  out  justice  to  all  of  the  Equitanians, 
and  secure  them  all  in  their  natural  rights,  while  protecting  them  in  their  civil, 
personal,  and  religious  rights.  And  in  their  dealings  with  other  peoples  or  nations 
they  would  use  the  moral  code  as  binding  and  guiding  them. 

"4.  The  Judge  must  not  be  from  the  legal  profession  because  it  is  choosing  one 
from  a  special  class  who  has  been  trained  simply  in  law,  procedure,  precedent,  tech- 
nicalities, and  theories;  and  it  is  unfair  to  the  ordinary  citizen  that  any  class, 
however  learned,  should  make,  interpret,  and  practically  execute  the  laws,  for  while 
human  nature  is  selfish,  so  much  power  to  any  class  always  leads  in  time  to  arrogance, 
tyranny,  and  oppression." 

Horace — Yes,  you  have  very  well  interpreted  in  a  brief  way  the  fundamental  things 
of  the  government  in  Equitania.  Of  course  you  must  not  forget  that  they  go  back  to  the 
very  basis  of  all  authority,  namely:  the  Supreme  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  and  say  that  all 
power  comes  from  Him,  and  that  to  Him  every  human  being  must  give  account  first  for 
his  acts,  whether  public  or  private,  and  this  makes  judge  and  lawyer  as  well  as  officers 
and  private  individuals  more  considerate  of  their  fellow  men  in  the  discharge  of  their  daily 
duties. 

Rev.  Jones — I  have  been  so  much  taken  with  this  whole  discussion,  that  I  would  like 
to  present  my  conception  of  the  religious  system  over  there  and  see  if  I  have  the  correct 
idea  of  it. 

"Pirst — They  believe  that  religion  is  the  highest  conception  of  the  human  soul, 
in  that  it  binds  the  individual  back  to  the  very  source  of  his  being  and  is  the  real 
internal  and  vital  connection  of  the  individual  with  his  Maker,  and  is  therefore  the 
chosen  and  voluntary  attitude  of  the  mind  toward  its  source,  and  hence  is  neither 
amenable  to  the  laws  of  man,  nor  subject  to  man's  dictation. 

"Second — They  believe  instruction,  persuasion,  and  the  force  of  example  in  daily 
life  to  be,  humanly  speaking,  man's  most  potent  influence  in  leading  others  to  choose 
in  truth  and  reahty  the  religious  life.  And  that  coercion  by  physical  force  or  mere 
human  legal  enactment  to  be  positively  detrimental  to  true  rehgion. 

"Third — They  believe  true  religion  cannot  only  best  be  propagated  in  the 
world  by  this  method,  but  that  it  is  the  only  way  to  do  so.  And,  further,  that  true 
religion  does  not  need  the  force  of  arms  to  spread  it;  but  neither  does  it  need  a  wall 
built  about  it,  not  civil  enactments  against  false  religions,  for  truth  alone  can  bear 
the  full  light  of  publicity  and  perfect  freedom.  That  a  strong  and  growing  proof 
against  error  in  religion  as  well  as  science  is  its  clamor  for  the  protection  of  law  or 
force  of  any  kind  against  competition. 

"Fourth — They  allow  each  kind  of  religion  to  formulate  its  own  creed,  and 
worship  in  its  own  way;  the  civil  government  protecting  them  all  in  these  rights, 
simply  on  the  ground  that  while  they  differ  in  their  religious  beliefs  and  practices, 
they  agree  upon  the  earthly,  temporal,  and  material  things  which  they  all  want,  and 
form  a  civil  government  upon  these  things,  and  all  co-operate  to  make  it  effective 
and  grant  them  religious  liberty,  which  is  a  part  of  every  man's  need." 

Horace I  am  delighted  to  see  how  clearly  you  have  put  the  matter,  for  it  shows  that 

you  have  given  careful  attention,  and  have  quickly  appreciated  the  plan. 

Professor  Johnson — If  I  rightly  understand  their  plan  of  education,  I  may  say  it  has 
strongly  appealed  to  me  as  being  sound. 

"PJrst — They  agree  upon  a  moral  code  for  the  individual  in  his  public  and 
private  Hfe  as  a  basis  for  sound  education  and  the  development  of  a  worthy 
character.  And  while  they  do  not  adopt  any  particular  kind  of  religion  as  official, 
yet  I  take  it  they  recognize  a  Supreme  Being,  the  Ruler  of  the  Universe,  to  whom  in 
come  important  sense  every  human  being  is  accountable  as  essential  to  the  best 
type  of  moral  character,  and  that  this  Supreme  Being  would  approve  of  no  lower 
standard  of  a  Moral  Code  than  the  one  adopted  by  the  Equitanians. 

"Second — They  make  their  schools  intensely  practical  from  the  lowest  to  the 
highest.  They  teach  all  the  essential  things  to  make  intelligent,  useful,  and 
self-supporting    subjects,    capable    if    possible    of    good    citizenship.      They    make 


JOURNALISM  AND  MEDICINE  165 

attendance  obligatory  until  the  High  School  diploma  is  obtained,  which  really  fits 
all  for  good  citizenship  if  they  are  at  all  mentally  capable  of  such. 

"This  course  is  accomplished  by  the  most  useful  industrial  training,  and  it  lays 
a  proper  foundation  for  those  who  may  wish  to  take  any  of  the  technical  or  higher 
courses  in  college  or  university. 

"Third — Having  secured  the  necessary  data  upon  the  sex  question  they  teach 
the  pupil  to  know  the  needful  things  about  himself  and  forestall  the  damage  which 
would  easily  arise  from  ignorance.  They  teach  that  this  important  system  is  sacred 
and  its  legitimate  function  is  pure,  and  only  becomes  obscene,  or  a  foul  and  unholy 
thing  when  abused. 

"Fourth — I  take  it  too  that  the  Overseers  of  whom  you  spoke,  are  important 
factors  in  helping  to  so  arrange  matters  in  many  families  that  children  who  could  not 
otherwise  do  it  are  kept  in  school  until  they  have  finished  their  course,  and  many 
doubtless  are  helped  and  encouraged  to  go  on  through  the  colle^^e  or  university,  who 
but  for  this  timely  advice  and  help  would  not  be  able  to  do  so.  Hence  I  would  expect 
to  find  a  very  high  grade  of  citizenship  in  Equitania  both  from  a  moral  and  intellec- 
tual standpoint." 

Horace — You  indeed  judged  correctly,  and  I  am  sure  you  would  all  enjoy  intensely 
their  many  excellent  qualities. 

Larned — I  am  quite  sure  from  what  you  say  that  the  papers,  journals,  and  maga- 
zines must  have  had  a  very  important  part  in  bringing  about  the  splendid  conditions  you 
mention. 

"First — The  editors  all  having  been  trained  in  schools  where  such  high  moral 
ideals  are  taught,  must  be  men  of  character  and  worth,  who  would  take  up  this  line 
of  work  primarily  for  the  good  they  might  do  their  fellowmen. 

"Second — They  would  therefore  exert  all  the  more  influence  because  of  their 
high  ideals,  and  their  influence  for  graft  or  any  evil  forces  could  not  easily  be  bought. 

"Third — The  government  itself  setting  the  right  sort  of  example  in  the  kind  of 
paper  issued  not  only  in  its  editorial  and  news  columns,  but  in  its  business  and 
advertising  departments  as  well,  would  have  an  influence  for  ideal  things  not  easily 
estimated. 

"Fourth — I  should  think,  too,  that  the  hours  for  work,  the  wages  paid,  and  the 
general  treatment  of  clerks  and  wage-earners  of  all  kind  in  the  government  employ 
would  be  a  fairly  good  guide  for  like  labor  in  the  various  industries  of  the  state. 

"Fifth — Daily  papers  and  others  conducted  along  these  lines,  that  is  in  the 
interests  of  the  public  welfare,  would  not  often  be  found  libeling  men,  and  their  wide 
publicity  of  men,  corporations,  and  the  doings  of  these,  especially  when  found 
mdividually  or  jointly  doing  anything  against  the  public  weal,  would  almost  be  as 
effective  as  legal  punishment." 

Horace — You  are  certainly  right  in  theory,  and  in  Equitania  it  works  out  practically 
just  as  you  have  indicated. 

Dr.  Brown— Much  as  I  have  enjoyed  all  you  have  said,  I  am  specially  pleased  with 
the  health  problems  as  they  are  handled  over  there. 

"Firs*  —Their  plan  of  teaching  the  young  about  themselves,  their  bodies  and 
their  natural  physical  functions,  so  that  without  having  technical  knowledge,  they 
may  all  kiow  the  really  needful  things  for  their  bodily  and  physical  welfare.  In  this 
country  v»c  are  certainly  not  teaching  the  children  what  they  ought  to  know  about 
sex,  for  we  see  so  much  evil  directly  resulting  wholly  from  ignorance,  which  might 
very  easily  have  been  prevented,  if  only  we  had  not  been  foolishly,  yea  criminally 
modest,  that  I  most  heartily  approve  the  Equitanian  plan. 

"Second — Their  common  sense  and  rational  method  of  requiring  all  who  would 
treat  the  sick  truthfully  telling  what  their  qualifications  are,  and  holding  to  strict 
account  those  who  mislead  the  unwary  by  making  false  claims  and  misrepresenting 
either  their  ability  or  their  qualifications  is  not  only  just  and  equitable,  but  it  is 
bound  to  eradicate  fraud  better  than  anything  else  when  it  is  brought  in  open  and  fair 
competition  with  real  scientific  medicine.  That  is  to  say,  fraud  in  medicine,  or  in 
working  for  the  public  health,  beside   truth  must  always   fail   if  both   are  openly 


IGG  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

exposed  fairly  to  the  public  gaze,  and  therefore  to  insist  upon  full  publicity  and 
statement  of  the  real  facts  will  always  result  in  the  final  triumph  of  truth  and  hence 
this  is  the  ideal  way  of  dealing  with  the  questions  of  health.  Let  each  be  held  to 
strict  account  also  for  damage  done  to  the  individual  or  society  by  any  particular 
practice  or  method  in  the  healing  art. 

"Third — Their  hospital  system  is  also  based  upon  the  right  principle,  too,  for 
if  the  state  permits  any  one  to  practice  the  healing  art,  then  all  institutions  supported 
at  public  expeuse,  or  by  public  contributions,  should  be  open  to  the  use  of  such  as 
are  chosen  by  the  sick  and  suffering  to  attend  them,  if  they  need  such  institutional 
care.  And  this  I  should  think  would  rightly  apply  to  all  those  institutions  except 
where  the  state  might  choose  or  appoint  certain  ones  to  give  all  their  time  and 
attention  to  the  care  of  inmates  who  were  dependents  of  the  state. 

"Fourth — In  their  treatment  of  the  social  evil  and  their  effort  to  prevent  venereal 
diseases,  and  those  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  I  am  free  to  confess  that  we  in  the 
United  States,  and  other  countries  so  far  as  I  know,  have  made  so  little  progress 
that  I  welcome  this  Equitanian  idea  most  cordially  and  believe  it  will  produce  just 
such  results  as  you  say  it  does.  Of  course  beginning  as  they  do  by  teaching  the 
young  true  moral  principles  and  high  ideas  of  self-mastery,  together  with  the  glory 
and  dignity  of  the  proper  use,  and  the  shame  and  disease  which  follows  the  abuse  of 
the  sexual  system,  they  have  a  good  foundation  upon  which  to  build  the  right  kind 
of  character.  Then  having  the  young  women  taught  their  duties  as  wives,  mothers 
and  home-makers  about  the  time  of  their  marriage,  which  I  see  they  say  should  not 
occur  before  twenty-one  years  of  age,  is  bound  to  have  a  most  salutary  effect;  for 
it  is  notorious  that  the  social  evil  is  maintained  in  all  lands  by  a  large  percentage  of 
married  men,  and  this  generally  because  their  wives  do  not  even  try  to  do  their  part, 
not  knowing  that  this  is  one  of  the  prime  duties  of  the  wife. 

"Fifth — By  simply  teaching  the  truth  and  insisting  upon  the  wrong  to  the 
individual  and  to  the  state  of  adultery,  fornication,  and  promiscous  intercourse,  by 
requiring  those  who  do  thus  cohabit  to  live  together  and  support  the  product  of 
their  union;  in  other  words  making  them  publicly  fulfill  their  contracts  when  they 
have  thus  come  together  in  secret,  by  requiring  the  man  to  live  with,  support,  and 
maintain  this  woman,  with  whom  he  cohabits,  and  forbidding  divorce  except  for 
adultery,  will  eliminate  not  only  the  divorce  evil  in  large  part  but  will  control  the 
social  evil  and  markedly  reduce  the  venereal  diseases. 

"Here  again  it  is  the  publicity  of  marriage  of  those  who  do,  or  wish  to  cohabit, 
and  requiring  the  fulfillment  of  this  contract  that  good  will  come. 

"Sixth — The  better  economic  conditions  so  that  men  can  marry  at  from 
twenty-four  to  thirty  years  of  age  and  properly  support  a  family  upon  the  ordinary 
income  of  a  laborer,  clerk,  or  business  man,  is  also  a  factor  in  helping  to  make  men 
more  chaste.  Then,  too,  I  can  easily  predict  that  the  work  of  the  Overseer  would 
help  to  keep  a  proper  check  upon  careless,  thoughtless,  and  frivolous  girls,  and  steer 
them  clear  of  the  young  men  who  would  purposely  mislead  them." 

Robert — After  all  of  the  very  interesting  and  instructive  discussions  I  have  come  to 
think  this  a  wonderful  land  about  which  we  have  been  hearing.  I  am  deeply  impressed 
with, 

"First — The  freedom,  liberty,  and  independence  of  the  individual  subjects,  and 
yet  the  strong,  sensible  government  in  guaranteeing  to  all  their  rights  and  safety  in 
their  lives  and  possessions. 

"Second — Their  aim  to  give  all  an  equal  chance  and  the  strong  to  help  the 
weak,  rather  than  exploit  them  for  selfish  purposes. 

"Third — Their  insistence  upon  the  need  for  an  honest  fulfillment  of  contracts 
by  all  the  people  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  justice. 

"Fourth — Their  demand  for  truthful  advertising  and  the  adequate  penalties 
meted  out  for  the  perpetration  of  fraud  by  promoters  of  wild-cat  schemes  and  other 
v^alful  deceivers  of  the  unsuspecting. 

"Fifth — Their  system  of  government  seems  to  be  concentrated  in  the  idea  that 
each  one  of  the  subjects  is  entitled  to  full  protection  of  the  government,  and  the 
laws  are  so  shaped,  the  officials  so  organized  and  instructed  as  to  make  it  a  mutual 


JOURNALISM  AND  MEDICINE  165 

attendance  obligatory  until  the  High  School  diploma  is  obtained,  which  really  fits 
all  for  good  citizenship  if  they  are  at  all  mentally  capable  of  such. 

"This  course  is  accomplished  by  the  most  useful  industrial  training,  and  it  lays 
a  proper  foundation  for  those  who  may  wish  to  take  any  of  the  technical  or  higher 
courses  in  college  or  university. 

"Third — Having  secured  the  necessary  data  upon  the  sex  question  they  teach 
the  pupil  to  know  the  needful  things  about  himself  and  forestall  the  damage  which 
would  easily  arise  from  ignorance.  They  teach  that  this  important  system  is  sacred 
and  its  legitimate  function  is  pure,  and  only  becomes  obscene,  or  a  foul  and  unholy 
thing  when  abused. 

"Fourth — I  take  it  too  that  the  Overseers  of  whom  you  spoke,  are  important 
factors  in  helping  to  so  arrange  matters  in  many  families  that  children  who  could  not 
otherwise  do  it  are  kept  in  school  until  they  have  finished  their  course,  and  many 
doubtless  are  helped  and  encouraged  to  go  on  through  the  college  or  university,  who 
but  for  this  timely  advice  and  help  would  not  be  able  to  do  so.  Hence  I  would  expect 
to  find  a  very  high  grade  of  citizenship  in  Equitania  both  from  a  moral  and  intellec- 
tual standpoint." 

Horace — You  indeed  judged  correctly,  and  I  am  sure  you  would  all  enjoy  intensely 
their  many  excellent  qualities. 

Lamed — I  am  quite  sure  from  what  you  say  that  the  papers,  journals,  and  maga- 
zines must  have  had  a  very  important  part  in  bringing  about  the  splendid  conditions  you 
mention. 

"First — The  editors  all  having  been  trained  in  schools  where  such  high  moral 
ideals  are  taught,  must  be  men  of  character  and  worth,  who  would  take  up  this  line 
of  work  primarily  for  the  good  they  might  do  their  fellowmen. 

"Second — They  would  therefore  exert  all  the  more  influence  because  of  their 
high  ideals,  and  their  influence  for  graft  or  any  evil  forces  could  not  easily  be  bought. 

"Third — The  government  itself  setting  the  right  sort  of  example  in  the  kind  of 
paper  issued  not  only  in  its  editorial  and  news  columns,  but  in  its  business  and 
advertising  departments  as  well,  would  have  an  influence  for  ideal  things  not  easily 
estimated. 

"Fourth — I  should  think,  too,  that  the  hours  for  work,  the  wages  paid,  and  the 
general  treatment  of  clerks  and  wage-earners  of  all  kind  in  the  government  employ 
would  be  a  fairly  good  guide  for  like  labor  in  the  various  industries  of  the  state. 

"Fifth — Daily  papers  and  others  conducted  along  these  lines,  that  is  in  the 
interests  of  the  public  welfare,  would  not  often  be  found  libeling  men,  and  their  wide 
publicity  of  men,  corporations,  and  the  doings  of  these,  especially  when  found 
individually  or  jointly  doing  anything  against  the  public  weal,  would  almost  be  as 
effective  as  legal  punishment." 

Horace — You  are  certainly  right  in  theory,  and  in  Equitania  it  works  out  practically 
just  as  you  have  indicated. 

Dr.  Brown — Much  as  I  have  enjoyed  all  you  have  said,  I  am  specially  pleased  with 
the  health  problems  as  they  are  handled  over  there. 

"Firs^ — Their  plan  of  teaching  the  young  about  themselves,  their  bodies  and 
their  natur^U  physical  functions,  so  that  without  having  technical  knowledge,  they 
may  all  k-;ow  the  really  needful  things  for  their  bodily  and  physical  welfare.  In  this 
country  v.e  are  certainly  not  teaching  the  children  what  they  ought  to  know  about 
sex,  for  we  see  so  much  evil  directly  resulting  wholly  from  ignorance,  which  might 
very  easily  have  been  prevented,  if  only  we  had  not  been  foolishly,  yea  criminally 
modest,  that  I  most  heartily  approve  the  Equitanian  plan. 

"Second — Their  common  sense  and  rational  method  of  requiring  all  who  would 
treat  the  sick  truthfully  telling  what  their  qualifications  are,  and  holding  to  strict 
account  those  who  mislead  the  unwary  by  making  false  claims  and  misrepresenting 
either  their  ability  or  their  qualifications  is  not  only  just  and  equitable,  but  it  is 
bound  to  eradicate  fraud  better  than  anything  else  when  it  is  brought  in  open  and  fair 
competition  with  real  scientific  medicine.  That  is  to  say,  fraud  in  medicine,  or  in 
working   for  the  public  health,  beside   truth  must  always   fail   if  both   are  openly 


1G6  EQUITANIA,  OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

exposed  fairly  to  the  public  gaze,  and  therefore  to  insist  upon  full  publicity  and 
statement  of  the  real  facts  will  always  result  in  the  final  triumph  of  truth  and  hence 
this  is  the  ideal  way  of  dealing  with  the  questions  of  health.  Let  each  be  held  to 
strict  account  also  for  damage  done  to  the  individual  or  society  by  any  particular 
practice  or  method  in  the  healing  art. 

"Third — Their  hospital  system  is  also  based  upon  the  right  principle,  too,  for 
if  the  state  permits  any  one  to  practice  the  healing  art,  then  all  institutions  supported 
at  public  expeuse,  or  by  public  contributions,  should  be  open  to  the  use  of  such  as 
are  chosen  by  the  sick  and  suffermg  to  attend  them,  if  they  need  such  institutional 
care.  And  this  I  should  think  would  rightly  apply  to  all  those  institutions  except 
where  the  state  might  choose  or  appoint  certain  ones  to  give  all  their  time  and 
attention  to  the  care  of  inmates  who  were  dependents  of  the  state. 

"Fourth — In  their  treatment  of  the  social  evil  and  their  effort  to  prevent  venereal 
diseases,  and  those  diseases  peculiar  to  women,  I  am  free  to  confess  that  we  in  the 
United  States,  and  other  countries  so  far  as  I  know,  have  made  so  little  progress 
that  I  welcome  this  Equitanian  idea  most  cordially  and  believe  it  will  produce  just 
such  results  as  you  say  it  does.  Of  course  beginning  as  they  do  by  teaching  the 
young  true  moral  principles  and  high  ideas  of  self-mastery,  together  with  the  glory 
and  dignity  of  the  proper  use,  and  the  shame  and  disease  which  follows  the  abuse  of 
the  sexual  system,  they  have  a  good  foundation  upon  which  to  build  the  right  kind 
of  character.  Then  having  the  young  women  taught  their  duties  as  wives,  mothers 
and  home-makers  about  the  time  of  their  marriage,  which  I  see  they  say  should  not 
occur  before  twenty-one  years  of  age,  is  bound  to  have  a  most  salutary  effect;  for 
it  is  notorious  that  the  social  evil  is  maintained  in  all  lands  by  a  large  percentage  of 
married  men,  and  this  generally  because  their  wives  do  not  even  try  to  do  their  part, 
not  knowing  that  this  is  one  of  the  prime  duties  of  the  wife. 

"Fifth — By  simply  teaching  the  truth  and  insisting  upon  the  wrong  to  the 
individual  and  to  the  state  of  adultery,  fornication,  and  promiscous  intercourse,  by 
requiring  those  who  do  thus  cohabit  to  live  together  and  support  the  product  of 
their  union;  in  other  words  making  them  publicly  fulfill  their  contracts  when  they 
have  thus  come  together  in  secret,  by  requiring  the  man  to  live  with,  support,  and 
maintain  this  woman,  with  whom  he  cohabits,  and  forbidding  divorce  except  for 
adultery,  will  eliminate  not  only  the  divorce  evil  in  large  part  but  will  control  the 
social  evil  and  markedly  reduce  the  venereal  diseases. 

"Here  again  it  is  the  publicity  of  marriage  of  those  who  do,  or  wish  to  cohabit, 
and  requiring  the  fulfillment  of  this  contract  that  good  will  come. 

"Sixth — The  better  economic  conditions  so  that  men  can  marry  at  from 
twenty-four  to  thirty  years  of  age  and  properly  support  a  family  upon  the  ordinary 
income  of  a  laborer,  clerk,  or  business  man,  is  also  a  factor  in  helping  to  make  men 
more  chaste.  Then,  too,  I  can  easily  predict  that  the  work  of  the  Overseer  would 
help  to  keep  a  proper  check  upon  careless,  thoughtless,  and  frivolous  girls,  and  steer 
them  clear  of  the  young  men  who  would  purposely  mislead  them." 

Robert — After  all  of  the  very  interesting  and  instructive  discussions  I  have  come  to 
think  this  a  wonderful  land  about  which  we  have  been  hearing.  I  am  deeply  impressed 
with, 

"First — The  freedom,  liberty,  and  independence  of  the  individual  subjects,  and 
yet  the  strong,  sensible  government  in  guaranteeing  to  all  their  rights  and  safety  in 
their  lives  and  possessions. 

"Second — Their  aim  to  give  all  an  equal  chance  and  the  strong  to  help  the 
weak,  rather  than  exploit  them  for  selfish  purposes. 

"Third — Their  insistence  upon  the  need  for  an  honest-  fulfillment  of  contracts 
by  all  the  people  as  a  fundamental  principle  of  justice. 

"Fourth — Their  demand  for  truthful  advertising  and  the  adequate  penalties 
meted  out  for  the  perpetration  of  fraud  by  promoters  of  wild-cat  schemes  and  other 
wilful  deceivers  of  the  unsuspecting. 

"Fifth — Their  system  of  government  seems  to  be  concentrated  in  the  idea  that 
each  one  of  the  subjects  is  entitled  to  full  protection  of  the  government,  and  the 
laws  are  so  shaped,  the  officials  so  organized  and  instructed  as  to  make  it  a  mutual 


SANCTITY  OF  THE  HOME  167 

benefit  society  for  all  who  strive  to  obey  the  civil  laws,  and  their  plan  is  to  help  all 
within  its^  jurisdiction  so  that  they  may  not  become  dependents,  offenders  or 
criminals." 

Horace— You  have  mentioned  the  very  things  that  at  first  most  strongly  appealed 
to  me  as  I  began  to  get  acquainted  with  these  people.  There  was  more  of  the  spirit  of 
good-will  among  all  classes  and  from  every  part  of  the  island  than  I  had  ever  seen  before 
in  any  land  where  I  had  traveled.  There  was  less  selfishness  manifest,  and  this  I  found  to 
be  due  to  the  broad  and  unselfish  principles  upon  which  their  government  was  founded. 
.  Of  course  the  great  idea  of  there  being  one  Supreme  and  Almighty  Ruler,  the  God  of 
the  Universe  over  them  all,  and  to  whom  in  some  way  they  must  all  one  day  give  account 
was  a  basic  idea  of  untold  value,  and  when  they  agreed  that  each  was  to  have  freedom 
in  the  worship  of  this  Ruler,  they  laid  deep  a  solid  foundation  stone  upon  which  to  build. 

Then  when  they  agreed  upon  a  Moral  Code  of  such  stupendous  import  as  the  one 
they  adopted,  they  laid  another  stone  that  completed  the  foundation  necessary  for  building 
a  vast  super-structure  of  incalculable  merit. 

Building  thus  side  by  side,  these  earnest  seekers  after  truth  and  builders  of  an  earthly 
temporal  government,  must  needs  erect  the  best  on  earth,  while  at  the  same  time  they  go 
on  building  a  spiritual  kingdom  for  eternity. 

Sylvester — I  have  been  a  very  attentive  listener,  and  have  carefully  read  all  the 
articles  you  have  given  me,  and  whilst  I  have  enjoyed  the  various  summaries  you  have 
all  given  of  the  different  features  that  most  strongly  appealed  to  you,  still  the  following 
points  have  inpressed  me  most  forcibly. 

"First — The  importance  they  attach  to  the  sanctity  of  the  home  and  the  interest 
shown  in  the  child.  The  provision  they  make  to  safeguard  the  home,  protect  the 
mother  and  enable  her  to  feed,  clothe,  shelter  and  educate  the  child.  They  seem  to 
regard  it  a  prime  duty  of  the  state  to  see  to  it  that  the  best  possible  thing  is  done  for 
the  child.     That  includes: 

"a.  Seeing  to  it  that  the  child  is  well  born,  or  has  a  good  parentage, 
"b.  That  the  home  life  and  mother  care  are  vastly  better  than  any  orphanage, 
asylum,  or  institutional  care.     Therefore  the  Overseer  is  the  important  connecting 
link  between  the  home  and  the  state  to  help  the  father  or  mother,  as  the  case  may  be, 
maintain    that  home  and  give  that  maternal  care. 

"Second — They  plan  their  educational  system  on  such  a  broad  and  practical 
basis  that  every  child  is  trained  and  educated  in  the  very  things  every  human  being 
needs  to  make  him  a  useful,  independent  subject,  and  with  it  lay  a  broad  enough 
foundation  for  an  advanced  educational  career. 

"Third — They  dignify  personal  merit  and  exalt  character,  by  promoting  to 
positions  of  trust  and  honor  those  who  prove  themselves  worthy;  and  by  rewarding 
those  who  have  proven  themselves  true  heroes  in  that  they  have  sacrificed  ease, 
pleasure,  and  perhaps  fortune  in  the  services  performed  for  their  fellows.  The 
spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others  seems  to  be  their  type  of  hero 
which  I  greatly  admire.  In  such  marked  contrast  is  it  to  that  shown  in  most 
countries,  even  including  our  own,  where  the  prevailing  spirit  is  selfishness  and  greed, 
which  leads  to  cruelty  and  oppression. 

"Fourth^I  like  the  idea  of  giving  to  every  subject  a  certain  standing  in  the 
community,  by  keeping  a  careful  record  of  him,  and  I  heartily  approve  of  the  plan 
of  considering  every  subject  as  a  member  of  the  commonwealth,  and  that  defectives, 
degenerates,  dependents,  or  criminals  shall  be  treated  fairly,  and  as  shall  be  best  for 
them  with  reference  to  the  whole  country.  You  know  in  this  country  we  very  often 
say  to  an  offender,  'We  will  give  you  just  twelve  hours  to  get  out  of  town,'  or  we 
ship  the  poor  creature  out  of  our  immediate  vicinity  little  caring  where  he  goes  or 
what  becomes  of  him.  This  to  me  is  all  wrong  and  I  like  much  better  the  Equitanian 
plan  of  taking  proper  account  of  each  and  not  allowing  any  of  them  to  be  carelessly 
sent  away,  or  told  to  'move  on.'  They  take  each  one  in  hand  and  place  him  in  the 
position  to  which  he  belongs,  treat  him  humanely,  justly,  and  kindly,  and  do  not  allow 
him  to  go  elsewhere  until  the  place  is  found  somewhere  in  the  broad  land  that  can 
do  better  by  him  than  the  place  in  which  he  may  be  found  in  his  guilt  or  misfortune, 
when  he  is  sent  directly  to  that  place  where  he  is  wanted. 


168  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF  EQUITY 

"Fifth — I  am  delighted  with  their  plan  of  having  Overseers,  who  are  special 
officers  of  help  and  prevention,  by  whose  judicious  counsel  many  are  kept  from 
getting  into  the  dependent  and  the  criminal  class.  I  am  sure  this  plan  not  only  saves 
many  homes,  and  is  a  strong  preventive  of  much  evil,  but  it  is  a  mighty  stimulus  to 
many  young  people,  to  a  higher  and  better  citizenship.  This  alone  will  make  more 
patriots,  real  lovers  of  country  than  you  can  well  conceive,  for  it  is  a  practical 
demonstration  of  the  real  interest  of  government  in  the  welfare  of  the  individual. 
It  is  a  proof,  positive  and  unmistakable,  that  the  state  is  more  anxious  to  prevent 
crime  than  to  punish  it.  That  the  state  with  all  its  power  is  more  anxious  to  help 
her  subjects  than  to  annoy  or  hamper  them.  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  m  the 
beginning  that  you  were  going  to  form  a  colony  to  go  out  there  from  the  United 
States?" 

Horace — Yes.  I  came  back  to  tell  some  of  my  friends  about  it,  and  induce  them  to 
join  me,  and  so  I  am  planning  for  it  now. 

Sylvester — Well,  why  shouldn't  we  all  join  you  and  have  part  in  it? 

All — Yes;   that  is  the  natural  thing  to  do  and  what  we  would  like  to  do. 

Horace — Well,  that  is  fine,  I  am  sure,  but  you  must  know  there  are  certain  conditions 
only  upon  which  we  can  go  into  this  country.  We  are  foreigners,  and  must  comply  with 
their  naturalization  laws  before  we  can  become  citizens  or  subjects.  However,  as  you 
all  seem  so  much  alive  to  the  merits  of  this  country,  I  will  tell  you  at  another  time  how 
we  may  all  get  in. 

It  is  now  quite  late  and  we  must  part  for  the  present.  After  you  have  all  thought  it 
over  carefully,  come  to  me  and  we  will  arrange  the  details.     Good  night. 


SANCTITY  OF  THE  HOME  167 

benefit  society  for  all  who  strive  to  obey  the  civil  laws,  and  their  plan  is  to  help  all 

within    its    jurisdiction    so    that    they    may    not    become    dependents,    offenders    or 

criminals." 

Horace — You  have  mentioned  the  very  things  that  at  first  most  strongly  appealed 
to  me  as  I  began  to  get  acquainted  with  these  people.  There  was  more  of  the  spirit  of 
good-will  among  all  classes  and  from  every  part  of  the  island  than  I  had  ever  seen  before 
in  any  land  where  I  had  traveled.  There  was  less  selfishness  manifest,  and  this  I  found  to 
be  due  to  the  broad  and  unselfish  principles  upon  which  their  government  was  founded. 

Of  course  the  great  idea  of  there  being  one  Supreme  and  Almighty  Ruler,  the  God  of 
the  Universe  over  them  all,  and  to  whom  in  some  way  they  must  all  one  day  give  account 
was  a  basic  idea  of  untold  value,  and  when  they  agreed  that  each  was  to  have  freedom 
in  the  worship  of  this  Ruler,  they  laid  deep  a  solid  foundation  stone  upon  which  to  build. 

Then  when  they  agreed  upon  a  Moral  Code  of  such  stupendous  import  as  the  one 
they  adopted,  they  laid  another  stone  that  completed  the  foundation  necessary  for  building 
a  vast  super-structure  of  incalculable  merit. 

Building  thus  side  by  side,  these  earnest  seekers  after  truth  and  builders  of  an  earthly 
temporal  government,  must  needs  erect  the  best  on  earth,  while  at  the  same  time  they  go 
on  building  a  spiritual  kingdom  for  eternity. 

Sylvester — I  have  been  a  very  attentive  listener,  and  have  carefully  read  all  the 
articles  you  have  given  me,  and  whilst  I  have  enjoyed  the  various  summaries  you  have 
all  given  of  the  different  features  that  most  strongly  appealed  to  you,  still  the  following 
points  have  inpressed  me  most  forcibly. 

"Pirst — The  importance  they  attach  to  the  sanctity  of  the  home  and  the  interest 
shown  in  the  child.  The  provision  they  make  to  safeguard  the  home,  protect  the 
mother  and  enable  her  to  feed,  clothe,  shelter  and  educate  the  child.  They  seem  to 
regard  it  a  prime  duty  of  the  state  to  see  to  it  that  the  best  possible  thing  is  done  for 
the  child.     That  includes: 

"a.  Seeing  to  it  that  the  child  is  well  born,  or  has  a  good  parentage. 

"b.  That  the  hom.e  life  and  mother  care  are  vastly  better  than  any  orphanage, 
asylum,  or  institutional  care.  Therefore  the  Overseer  is  the  important  connecting 
link  between  the  home  and  the  state  to  help  the  father  or  mother,  as  the  case  may  be, 
maintain    that  home  and  give  that  maternal  care. 

"Second — They  plan  their  educational  system  on  such  a  broad  and  practical 
basis  that  every  child  is  trained  and  educated  in  the  very  things  every  human  being 
needs  to  make  him  a  useful,  independent  subject,  and  with  it  lay  a  broad  enough 
foundation  for  an  advanced  educational  career. 

"Third — They  dignify  personal  merit  and  exalt  character,  by  promoting  to 
positions  of  trust  and  honor  those  who  prove  themselves  worthy;  and  by  rewarding 
those  who  have  proven  themselves  true  heroes  in  that  they  have  sacrificed  ease, 
pleasure,  and  perhaps  fortune  in  the  services  performed  for  their  fellows.  The 
spirit  of  love  and  self-sacrifice  for  the  good  of  others  seems  to  be  their  type  of  hero 
which  I  greatly  admire.  In  such  marked  contrast  is  it  to  that  shown  in  most 
countries,  even  including  our  own,  where  the  prevailing  spirit  is  selfishness  and  greed, 
which  leads  to  cruelty  and  oppression. 

"Fourth — I  like  the  idea  of  giving  to  every  subject  a  certain  standing  in  the 
community,  by  keeping  a  careful  record  of  him,  and  I  heartily  approve  of  the  plan 
of  considering  every  subject  as  a  member  of  the  commonwealth,  and  that  defectives, 
degenerates,  dependents,  or  criminals  shall  be  treated  fairly,  and  as  shall  be  best  for 
them  with  reference  lo  the  whole  country.  You  know  in  this  country  we  very  often 
say  to  an  offender,  'We  will  give  you  just  twelve  hours  to  get  out  of  town,'  or  we 
ship  the  poor  creature  out  of  our  immediate  vicinity  little  caring  where  he  goes  or 
what  becomes  of  him.  This  to  me  is  all  wrong  and  I  like  much  better  the  Equitanian 
plan  of  taking  proper  account  of  each  and  not  allowing  any  of  them  to  be  carelessly 
sent  away,  or  told  to  'move  on.'  They  take  each  one  in  hand  and  place  him  in  the 
position  to  which  he  belongs,  treat  him  humanely,  justly,  and  kindly,  and  do  not  allow 
him  to  go  elsewhere  until  the  place  is  found  somewhere  in  the  broad  land  that  caD 
do  better  by  him  than  the  place  in  which  he  may  be  found  in  his  guilt  or  misfortune, 
when  he  is  sent  directly  to  that  place  where  he  is  wanted. 


168  EQUITANIA,   OR  THE   LAND   OF   EQUITY 

"Fifth — I  am  delighted  with  their  plan  of  having  Overseers,  who  are  special 
officers  of  help  and  prevention,  by  whose  judicious  counsel  many  are  kept  from 
getting  into  the  dependent  and  the  criminal  class.  I  am  sure  this  plan  not  only  saves 
many  homes,  and  is  a  strong  preventive  of  much  evil,  but  it  is  a  mighty  stimulus  to 
many  young  people,  to  a  higher  and  better  citizenship.  This  alone  will  make  more 
patriots,  real  lovers  of  country  than  you  can  well  conceive,  for  it  is  a  practical 
demonstration  of  the  real  interest  of  government  in  the  welfare  of  the  individual. 
It  is  a  proof,  positive  and  unmistakable,  that  the  state  is  more  anxious  to  prevent 
crime  than  to  punish  it.  That  the  state  with  all  its  power  is  more  anxious  to  help 
her  subjects  than  to  annoy  or  hamper  them.  Did  I  understand  you  to  say  in  the 
beginning  that  you  were  going  to  form  a  colony  to  go  out  there  from  the  United 
States?" 

Horace — Yes.  I  came  back  to  tell  some  of  my  friends  about  it,  and  mduce  them  to 
join  me,  and  so  I  am  planning  for  it  now. 

Sylvester — Well,  why  shouldn't  we  all  join  you  and  have  part  in  it> 

All — Yes;   that  is  the  natural  thing  to  do  and  what  we  would  like  to  do. 

Horace — Well,  that  is  fine,  I  am  sure,  but  you  must  know  there  are  certain  conditions 
only  upon  which  we  can  go  into  this  country.  We  are  foreigners,  and  must  comply  with 
their  naturalization  laws  before  we  can  become  citizens  or  subjects.  However,  as  you 
all  seem  so  much  alive  to  the  merits  of  this  country,  I  will  tell  you  at  another  time  how 
we  may  all  get  in. 

It  is  now  quite  late  and  we  must  part  for  the  present.  After  you  have  all  thought  it 
over  carefully,  come  to  me  and  we  will  arrange  the  details.     Good  night. 


EQUITANIA 

OR  THE  LAND  OF  EQUITY 


By  dr.  W.  O.  henry 


This  book  is  an  imaginary  story,  taking  real  people  as  we 
find  them  in  the  world  today,  who,  acting  upon  the  prin- 
ciples of  Equity  and  Justice,  found  and  conduct  an  ideal  DEMOCRACY 

t  gives  the  reasons  for  and  the  principles  of  a DEMOCRACY 

t  gives  the  ideal  political  system  of  a DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  to  prevent  TRUSTS  and  MONOPOLIES  in  a  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  human  rights  are  above  property  rights  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  interest  of  the  State  in  every  indi^'^dual  in  a . .  DEMOCRACY 
t  shows  prevention  of  delinquents,  dependents  and  crimi- 
nals in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  gives  the  true  method  of  dealing  with  criminals  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  courts  may  be  properly  constituted  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  gives  the  true  system  of  EDUCATION  in  a .  .  .  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  place  of  the  true  rehgion  in  a. .  .  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  need  for  a  MORAL  CODE  in  a  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  relations  of  civil  and  religious  liberties  ni  a  .  . .  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  all  are  mutually  benefited  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  gives  the  place  of  the  doctor,  lawyer,  preacher,  journalist, 

teacher  and  publicist  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  to  care  for  the  poor  and  the  unfortunate  in  a.  DEMOCRACY 

t  solves  the  problem  of  the  unemployed  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  demonstrates  who  should  vote  and  why  in  n  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  place  of  the  home  in  a ....  .  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  the  place  of  the  child  in  a DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  the  SEX  question  is  handled  in  a   .  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  to  deal  with  marriage  and  divorce  in  DEMOCRACY 

t  shows  how  to  deal  with  the  temperance  question  ma...  DEMOCRACY 
t  shows  how  to  deal  with  the  SUNDAY  question  in  a . .  .  .  DEMOCRACY 
t  shows  how  to  deal  with  the  GAMBLING  question  in  a.  .DEMOCRACY 
t  is  a  LIVE  book  on  the  LIVE  TOPICS  in  a DEMOCRACY 


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Publishers  and  Distributors 


